Paterno is in his 61st season on the Penn State coaching staff as of 2010, holding the record for most seasons for any football coach at any university. The 2009 season was Paterno’s 44th as head coach of the Nittany Lions, passing Amos Alonzo Stagg for the most years as head coach at a single institution in Division 1. Paterno has been on Penn State's coaching staff for 682 of their 1,204 games, 56.6% of all games played by the program dating back to its inception in 1887.
The Pittsburgh Steelers offered their head coach position to Paterno in 1969, an offer he considered seriously. The Steelers ended up hiring Chuck Noll, who won four Super Bowls in his first 11 years, and coached for an additional twelve seasons.
Michigan Athletic Director Don Canham contacted Paterno in 1969 to see if Paterno (whom Canham respected and knew personally) would accept the vacant Michigan job. Paterno turned down the offer and Michigan went on to hire Bo Schembechler. In 1972, Paterno also turned down a head coaching position with the New England Patriots, which included an ownership position. The Pats hired Chuck Fairbanks of Oklahoma instead.
After five years of court battles, the Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System (SERS) revealed Paterno's salary in November 2007: $512,664. (He was paid $490,638 in 2006.) The figure is not inclusive of other compensation, such as money from television and apparel contracts as well as other bonuses that Paterno and other football bowl subdivision coaches may earn, said Robert Gentzel, SERS communications director. The release of these amounts can only come at the university's approval, which Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers said will not happen. "I'm paid well, I'm not overpaid," Paterno said during an interview with reporters Wednesday before the salary disclosure. "I got all the money I need."
On December 16, 2008, it was reported that Paterno had agreed in principle to a contract extension that would extend his tenure at Penn State by at least three years.
Bowls and championships
Paterno holds more bowl victories (24) than any coach in history. He also tops the list of bowl appearances with 36. He has a bowl record of 24 wins, 11 losses, and 1 tie with his latest win in the 2010 Capital One Bowl. Paterno is the only coach with the distinction of having won each of the current four major bowls—Rose, Orange, Fiesta, and Sugar—as well as the Cotton Bowl Classic, at least once. Under Paterno, Penn State has won at least three bowl games each decade since 1970.
Overall, Paterno has led Penn State to two national championships (1982 and 1986) and five undefeated, untied seasons (1968, 1969, 1973, 1986, and 1994). Four of his unbeaten teams (1968, 1969, 1973, and 1994) won major bowl games and were not awarded a national championship.
Penn State under Paterno has won the Orange Bowl (1968, 1969, 1973, and 2005), the Cotton Bowl Classic (1972 and 1974), the Fiesta Bowl (1977, 1980, 1981, 1986, 1991, and 1996), the Liberty Bowl (1979), the Sugar Bowl (1982), the Aloha Bowl (1983), the Holiday Bowl (1989), the Citrus Bowl (1993 and 2010), the Rose Bowl (1994), the Outback Bowl (1995, 1998, and 2006) and the Alamo Bowl (1999 and 2007).
Since joining the Big Ten Conference in 1993, Penn State under Paterno has won the Big Ten championship three times (1994, 2005, and 2008). Paterno has had 29 finishes in the Top 10 national rankings.
Awards and honors
Following the 1986 championship season, Paterno was the first college football coach named "Sportsman of the Year" by Sports Illustrated magazine. In 2005, following an 11-1 comeback season in which the Lions won a share of the Big Ten title and a BCS berth, Paterno was named the 2005 AP Coach of the Year, and the 2005 Walter Camp Coach of the Year.
- Amos Alonzo Stagg Award - 2002
- Associated Press College Football Coach of the Year Award - 2005
- Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award - 1981, 2005
- Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year - 1978, 1982, 1986
- Paul "Bear" Bryant Award - 1986
- United States Sports Academy's Amos Alonzo Stagg Coaching Award (1989, 2001)
- The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award - 2005
- Walter Camp Coach of the Year - 1972, 1994, 2005
- Dave McClain Big Ten Coach of the Year - 2008
On May 16, 2006 Paterno was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame after the National Football Foundation decided to change its rules and allow any coach over the age of 75 to be eligible for the Hall of Fame instead of having to wait for an individual to be retired. However, on November 4, 2006, he was injured during a sideline collision that occurred during a game against Wisconsin. As a result of his injuries, he was unable to travel to the induction ceremonies in New York City and the National Football Foundation announced that he would instead be inducted as a part of the Hall of Fame class of 2007. Paterno was inducted on December 4, 2007, and officially enshrined in a ceremony held July 19, 2008. It was announced in March of 2010 that the Maxwell Football Club of Philadelphia established the "Joseph V. Paterno award" would be awarded annually by the club to the college football coach "who has made a positive impact on his university, his players and his community."