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| Coach Joe Paterno named MCS National Coach of the Year. |
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 Spotlight: Paterno Named National Coach of the Year by the Master Coaches Survey
January 2, 2006
By MCSPOLL.com staff
When he cast his vote for the Master Coaches Survey National Coach of the Year, George Welsh opted for the man who, according to Welsh, orchestrated his team to "one of the biggest turnarounds in college football."
That would be his former boss, Joe Paterno, whose Penn State program rebounded from four losing seasons in the last five years to go 10-1 in 2005, share the Big Ten title and earn a spot in the Bowl Championship Series.
"That program had been down for several years but, thanks to Joe Paterno, now they're back," said Welsh, the former head coach at Virginia who served as an assistant coach for Paterno's Nittany Lions from 1966-73. "I expect Penn State to be at the top for many years and to just keep going."
In his 40th season as head coach, Paterno has led the Nittany Lions to a 10-win regular season, the conference's automatic berth into the BCS and a date with ACC champion Florida State in the 72nd FedEx Orange Bowl, a No. 3 ranking in the Master Coaches Survey Top 25 poll, as well as MCS National Coach of the Year honors.
Along with Amos Alonzo Stagg, Paterno is the only Division I-A head coach to stay at the same institution for 40 years. Since 1966, Paterno has won 353 games, second only to FSU's Bobby Bowden (359) in Division I-A, and includes national championships in 1982 and 1986. He has coached 69 first-team All-Americans, 14 Hall of Fame Scholar-Athletes, 23 first-team academic All-Americans and 18 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winners.
Paterno, who Welsh describes as "a great recruiter and tactician, and very fundamentally sound," celebrated his 79th birthday on December 21.
“Do you think I go to bed thinking, "God, how many guys are there as old as I am coaching?'" Paterno said recently. "I go to bed thanking God I can get up tomorrow morning and coach."
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Trivia: (make your pick by clicking on the coach's picture)
Which Master Coach had two Heisman Trophy winners during his college coaching career as a Head Coach?
   
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