Nov. 7, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - By Tony Mancuso
Saturday started like any other gameday in Happy Valley.
College football's greatest shrine welcomed the trademark white helmets, blue jerseys, white pants and black Nike cleats to the south tunnel after a short ride from Lasch Building the infamous Blue Buses.
The finely manicured sod was painted in its Saturday best. The Penn State Blue Band's notes resonated through all corners of the stadium. The November weather provided a Big Ten-like chill in the air.
But when the clock ticked to zero, Saturday became more than just another day in Beaver Stadium. It will be circled as one of the most historic dates for a program rich in gridiron history.
November 6, 2010 will forever be known as the day Penn State's most iconic figure joined a Division I FBS college football club of his own by winning his 400th career game.
It is difficult to put into words how much Joe Paterno has meant to the game of football. When you watch him walk out of the south tunnel at Beaver Stadium, you are seeing a living legend take the field. His accomplishments are virtually impossible to quantify.
Coach Paterno would be the first to tell you that 400 victories is just a number, but it is more than just a number. It is a remarkable milestone for a man that has impacted thousands of lives with his unrivaled leadership style.
Joe Paterno and Kirk Ferentz |
"The thing I admire the most is just passion for the game and more importantly the people he works with on a daily basis," Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. "You know I'm not as young as I used to be but you know it's really inspirational for me to walk into my first Big Ten meeting back in May of 1999 and see him as active as he was now. To me, it's what's good about our game and you know it's just a remarkable story. There's nothing even close to that. Just phenomenal, just phenomenal."
Phenomenal is a superb adjective to use when describing Coach Paterno's storied career. What he has given to Penn State and college football for the past 45 seasons is nothing short of astonishing.
"I can't put it in perspective," Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema said. "For guys to be able to interview him is just an unbelievable thing. For me to be able to shake his hand at midfield before a game is ridiculous. He's so intelligent, intuitive, and more than anything he's just a genuinely nice guy that really makes him fun to play against."
Saturday marked Penn State's ninth game in 2010. When you tally the cumulative number of career victories for the nine head coaches Penn State has played this fall, it totaled 482 career wins heading into this weekend. Nick Saban is the leader of the bunch. He had 126 career victories heading into Saturday.
Coach Paterno has now accounted for 400 by himself. Thinking about that puts this milestone into perspective. And it makes you wonder what it must be like for another head coach to walk to the middle of the field and shake hands with Coach Paterno prior to a game.
"It's intimidating for us honestly, in terms of the respect we have for him and how many times he stood at midfield shaking hands with another coach, you know he's done it a long time," said Indiana head coach Bill Lynch. "But you know the thing about it is how well his team's play and how hard it is to play against them, how good they are. I mean that's what's really impressive."
"I can't put it in perspective. For guys to be able to interview him is just an unbelievable thing. For me to be able to shake his hand at midfield before a game is ridiculous. He's so intelligent, intuitive, and more than anything he's just a genuinely nice guy that really makes him fun to play against."Wisconsin Head Coach Bret Bielema |
Coach Paterno's peers are in awe of his legacy. College football is Joe Paterno. It is the game he loves.
"Football to me has been a vehicle by which I can have some impact on some people in a very impressionable part of their lives," Coach Paterno said. "I was fortunate and I had that in a high school coach and I was fortunate I had that in a college coach. I was fortunate I had that in my father (Angelo) who was a very unselfish man."
Spending 45 years as a mentor in one position is truly remarkable. Coach Ferentz said it best when asked if he thought anyone would ever spend 45 seasons at one football program ever again.
"Well you never say never, but here I can say never," Ferentz said. "It's never going to happen again."
His tenure illustrates the degree of passion the Hall of Fame head coach genuinely has for his job.
"Well, it's very invigorating...But generally the fun is just the competition," Coach Paterno said. "When you're in a ballgame, you've got to make this play, you've got to do that, you've got to say the right thing to the kids, you've got to make them understand what they have got to do to win."
Coach Paterno has been asked time and time again which season will be his last. That is an impossible question answer. Football is Joe Paterno's life. He has spent six decades in State College for a reason. He loves the town. He loves the institution. And most of all, he loves Penn State football.
Reaching 400 victories is a milestone that a Division I FBS head coach will likely never again achieve. And there isn't a better figure in the top division of college football to stand alone in the 400-win club.
Congratulations, Coach Paterno. You truly are a legend.