Coaches / Head coach / Joe Paterno
Career
97
not coaching now
Rating—recent
Peak86best 5 yrs
Career97whole career
confidence
Joe Paterno
Head coach, 1966–2011
Headline rating: as head coach. Every role he has been rated in is below.
Chemistry
—
index in development
Seasons here—
Programs1
Stints1
Career path
Head-coaching stints since 1936; assistant roles since 2016
As head coach
Rating—Peak86Career97
1966–2011 · 46 seasonsRecord 409-136National titles 2Great seasons 13 (top ~7% of all teams that year)
- Rating 83: his whole career, recent seasons weighted most, measured as how far his teams stood above their era, crediting him with half of what each program already was when he arrived (about the share that, historically, follows a coach to his next job), fading as the program becomes his own.
- Peak 86: best five-season stretch, 1978–1982 at Penn State (50-10, 4 top-10 seasons by team strength, 1 national title), taking over a good program.
- Career 97 (#2 since 1936): total accomplishment over 46 seasons (409-136), 2 national titles, 13 elite seasons; full credit for the program he inherited.
- All of it at one program (Penn State) — unproven elsewhere; historically about half of a coach's lift carries to a new job.
Rating = who he is: his whole head-coaching career (since 1936), weighted toward recent years — how far his teams stood above their contemporaries, how much he lifted programs, his great seasons and titles. Form = the last two seasons. Career = the all-time ranking number.
| Season | Team | Record | Season rank | vs contemporaries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Penn State | 8-1 | #41 | +0.40 SD |
| 2010 | Penn State | 7-6 | #53 | +0.13 SD |
| 2009 | Penn State | 11-2 | #20 | +1.07 SD |
| 2008 | Penn State | 11-2 | #5 | +1.95 SD |
| 2007 | Penn State | 9-4 | #19 | +0.96 SD |
| 2006 | Penn State | 9-4 | #34 | +0.65 SD |
| 2005 | Penn State | 11-1 | #4 | +1.81 SD |
| 2004 | Penn State | 4-7 | #46 | +0.33 SD |
| 2003 | Penn State | 3-9 | #55 | +0.13 SD |
| 2002 | Penn State | 9-4 | #9 | +1.38 SD |
| 2001 | Penn State | 5-6 | #44 | +0.45 SD |
| 2000 | Penn State | 5-7 | #61 | +0.06 SD |
| 1999 | Penn State | 10-3 | #6 | +1.65 SD |
| 1998 | Penn State | 9-3 | #13 | +1.30 SD |
| 1997 | Penn State | 9-3 | #20 | +0.83 SD |
| 1996 | Penn State | 11-2 | #11 | +1.36 SD |
| 1995 | Penn State | 9-3 | #10 | +1.47 SD |
| 1994 | Penn State | 12-0 | #1 | +2.41 SD |
| 1993 | Penn State | 10-2 | #13 | +1.28 SD |
| 1992 | Penn State | 7-5 | #13 | +1.12 SD |
| 1991 | Penn State | 11-2 | #5 | +1.74 SD |
| 1990 | Penn State | 9-3 | #16 | +1.15 SD |
| 1989 | Penn State | 8-3-1 | #21 | +0.90 SD |
| 1988 | Penn State | 5-6 | #29 | +0.66 SD |
| 1987 | Penn State | 8-4 | #27 | +0.57 SD |
| 1986 | Penn State | 12-0 | #3 | +1.85 SD |
| 1985 | Penn State | 11-1 | #15 | +1.22 SD |
| 1984 | Penn State | 6-5 | #45 | +0.26 SD |
| 1983 | Penn State | 8-4-1 | #34 | +0.63 SD |
| 1982 | Penn State | 11-1 | #2 | +1.95 SD |
| 1981 | Penn State | 10-2 | #1 | +2.16 SD |
| 1980 | Penn State | 10-2 | #6 | +1.69 SD |
| 1979 | Penn State | 8-4 | #18 | +1.17 SD |
| 1978 | Penn State | 11-1 | #8 | +1.72 SD |
| 1977 | Penn State | 11-1 | #7 | +1.75 SD |
| 1976 | Penn State | 7-5 | #22 | +0.92 SD |
| 1975 | Penn State | 9-3 | #11 | +1.35 SD |
| 1974 | Penn State | 10-2 | #15 | +1.15 SD |
| 1973 | Penn State | 12-0 | #8 | +1.64 SD |
| 1972 | Penn State | 10-2 | #12 | +1.15 SD |
| 1971 | Penn State | 11-1 | #4 | +1.81 SD |
| 1970 | Penn State | 7-3 | #28 | +0.61 SD |
| 1969 | Penn State | 11-0 | #14 | +1.41 SD |
| 1968 | Penn State | 11-0 | #8 | +1.40 SD |
| 1967 | Penn State | 8-2-1 | #13 | +1.22 SD |
| 1966 | Penn State | 5-5 | #49 | +0.04 SD |
Season rank = his team among all major-college teams that year; vs contemporaries = how far above the average team (in standard deviations).