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joepaterno.com is not affiliated with any sports personality or university.
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It is only fitting that Joe Paterno should go down in history as the all-time winningest coach in Division IA Football. Joepa has led teams through seven undefeated regular seasons, and to perfect seasons five, that’s right, five times! He also boasts a 20-9-1 bowl record against some of college football's most successful coaches.
The graphic above depicts the popular media's “top three winningest coaches in Division IA football." It also contains an accurate accounting of their coaching records. Be aware that although Joepa has too much class to say it himself, and despite the fact that you will not hear it on any of the major networks, there is a storm brewing around a question that may soon need to be answered. That question is:
WHO WILL GO DOWN AS THE ALL-TIME WINNINGEST COACH IN DIVISION IA FOOTBALL HISTORY, JOE PATERNO, OR BOBBY BOWDEN?
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Unfortunately, given Florida State’s propensity to squeeze in more games per season than any team (excepting BYU), Bobby Bowden may soon pass Joepa in total college football wins. Ah, and therein lies the rub. If the media continues to distort and/or ignore the facts (and don't they always?), they will use Bowden’s total college football wins to hoodwink the public. Remember, these are the same people who've asked us all to believe that the Nittany Lions' perfect 1968, *1969*, 1974 and 1994 seasons didn't entitle them to at least a share of those years' national championship rings.
You can rest assured that if Bowden’s total college football wins surpass Paterno’s total Division IA Football wins, the media will try its best to claim that Bobby Bowden is "the winningest coach in Division IA Football." And why not? After all, if Bobby passes Joepa in the total number of college football games won, and also remains at Florida State or goes to some other Division IA team, he will of course be a coach “in” Division IA who has won more college football games than Joe Paterno. Voila! See how it works?
Well don't you fall for it because using that logic; any current Division IA Football coach with 10 Division IA wins and 322 Division III wins would now be one game ahead of Joe Paterno, and therefore, “the winningest coach in Division IA Football.”
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It is said that figures never lie, but as my father (PSU '54) taught me, there are people who will always distort facts and figures for their own purposes. The fact of the matter is that in terms of Division IA games, Bobby Bowden trails Joe Paterno by 34 wins. The media would have you believe that Joe is only ahead of Bobby by three games, but that is simply not true.
Here’s a hard fact that is indisputable: 31 of Bobby Bowden's college coaching wins came at NON-Division IA Howard College (now Samford University). Skeptical? Well maybe you'll believe the FSU and ESPN websites. FYI, as Samford’s second Bowden-family football coach, Bobby’s son, Terry, orchestrated the Bulldogs’ move from Division III Non-Scholarship Football to Division IAA Football in 1989. Still don’t believe me? Well see for yourself by checking out the FSU and ESPN/ABC website links located at the top of this page.
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Don’t you love the Internet? I bet FSU and ESPN/ABC didn't think that posting the truth online would come back to haunt them. …Oh, and just in case FSU and ESPN delete that information at some point, don’t worry. I've saved both pages and will be more than happy to repost them elsewhere.
So what can you do? Add your name to the growing list of people who are sick-and-tired of the media spinmeisters by dropping me an e-mail. Together we can let the sports media conglomerates know that true college football fans will not let this farce go unchallenged.
Best wishes to all,
David Hummel (PSU ’91)
*While Nixon's days of meddling in college football are over, it's worth noting that Florida is currently owed an Executive favor or two, and that the Sunshine State also boasts more electoral votes than Pennsylvania (although Pennsylvanians are three times as likely to fill out their ballots correctly). Luckily for PSU fans, Joepa's Sicilian curse is mightily feared. Afterall, just look at what happened when Penn State finally caught up with the Texas Longhorns on January 1, 1972. Tricky Dick's luck ran out a mere six months later...
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