George Munger Award
College Coach of the Year

Joe Paterno, The Pennsylvania State University

When Penn State toppled Ohio State this season, Joe Paterno was asked if the victory meant the Nittany Lions were back. Paterno’s answer: “I don’t know that we ever left.”

It is true, during Penn State’s recent struggles while some people questioned the direction of the football program and Paterno’s role in it, the coach never lost faith. He believed in his players and he believed in himself. This season his faith was rewarded as the Nittany Lions roared to a 11-1 record, a Big Ten co-championship and a trip to the Orange Bowl where they defeated Florida State, 26-23, in a triple overtime thriller.

Addressing a roomful of reporters, Paterno said: “I never thought we were as far away (from winning) as most of you guys did. We just had to rally and get back to where we belong. And we ended up being a pretty good football team.”

It was a remarkable turnaround for Paterno and the Penn State program, which was 27-33 overall from 2000 through 2004. The team had four losing seasons in those five years, but in 2005 the Nittany Lions returned to prominence and Paterno collected virtually every coach of the year award, including the George Munger Award presented by the Maxwell Football Club.

“It’s very flattering,” Paterno said. “I think anytime, regardless of whether it’s my first year or my 50th year, to have people recognize what’s been done is very uplifting.”

This is the fourth time Paterno was honored by the Maxwell Club. He previously won the Munger Award in 1990 and 1994 and he received the Reds Bagnell Award for contributions to the game of football in 1999.

“Joe is Pennsylvania State University,” wrote Matt Hayes in the Sporting News. “(He is) the soul of a team, a town and its history.”

Paterno’s 40th season as head coach at Penn State was one of his most satisfying as he allowed offensive coordinator Galen Hall to open up the attack for quarterback Michael Robinson. He also played two freshmen, receivers Derrick Williams and Justin King, something he was reluctant to do in the past. The result was an offense that averaged 12.8 points in Big Ten play in 2004 and they more than doubled that output this season.

Paterno sent Hall and Jay Paterno, his son and quarterback coach, to the University of Texas prior to the season to see what the coaches there were doing with Vince Young, a quarterback with similar skills to Robinson. Young won the Maxwell Award this season as college football player of the year and Robinson flourished as well, setting a school record for total offense.

“I never felt bad when we were 4-7 (in 2004) because I thought we had a bunch of kids that never quit,” Paterno said, “and that’s the joy of coaching. It isn’t 8-3. It isn’t 10-1. It isn’t 11-0. It isn’t any of that stuff. It’s did you get the most out of your football team.”

Paterno, who turned 79 in December, has 354 career victories, second only to Bobby Bowden of Florida State among Division 1-A coaches. Paterno trails Bowden by only five victories after Penn State’s win over the Seminoles in the Orange Bowl.

Paterno was asked if he took any satisfaction out of silencing the critics who claimed the downturn in the Penn State program the past few seasons was an indication that the game had passed him by.

“To be honest, I really have never thought that way,” Paterno said. “It’s not my nature. I’m not a vindictive guy. I don’t read the papers. I realize the media’s got a job to do and I realize the alumni, if they’re interested in your program, are going to die when you lose and so forth, and a lot of them get carried away.”

“What good does it do for me to say, ‘I told you so’”?