Joe Paterno -- the legendary former football coach at Penn State University -- died this morning at the age of 85 ... this according to his family.
Joseph Vincent "Joe" Paterno ( December 21, 1926 - January 22, 2012) was an American college football coach who was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions for 46 years from 1966 through 2011. Paterno, nicknamed "JoePa," holds the record for the most victories by an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
(FBS) football coach with 409 and is the only FBS coach to reach 400 victories. He coached five unbeatable groups that won most important bowl games and, in 2007, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach. Paterno was fired mid-season by Penn State trustees in November 2011, after long-time assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was arrested on child sexual abuse charges.
Paterno was the coach at Penn State for 46 years, until he was famously fired by the school last November following the sexual abuse allegations against his former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky.
In November 2011, his son Scott announced Paterno had a treatable form of lung cancer.
His family released a report that reads, "He died as he lived. He fought hard until the end, stayed optimistic, thinking only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been. His ambitions were far reaching, but he never supposed he needed to leave this Happy Valley to achieve them. He was a man dedicated to his family, his university, his gamers and his community."
