Head Coaching Record
Paterno has an official career record of 298 wins, 136 losses, and 3 ties. At the time of his death, Paterno had accumulated 409 total collegiate wins, but on July 23, 2012, NCAA rulings officially vacated 111 of Paterno's wins based on the findings of the Freeh report regarding his involvement in the Penn State sex abuse scandal. All wins dating back to 1998 were vacated, the year Paterno was first informed of Sandusky's suspected child abuse. Based on the criteria used by the NCAA, Paterno no longer holds the record for most victories by an NCAA Division I football coach. Former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden now holds the NCAA major college record for wins at 377, while for NCAA Division I schools, Grambling State University coach Eddie Robinson's 408 victories stands as the official record. In his 46 seasons as a head coach, Paterno had 27 winning seasons.
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penn State Nittany Lions (Independent) | |||||||||
| 1966 | Penn State | 5–5 | |||||||
| 1967 | Penn State | 8–2–1 | T Gator | 11 | 10 | ||||
| 1968 | Penn State | 11–0 | W Orange | 3 | 2 | ||||
| 1969 | Penn State | 11–0 | W Orange | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 1970 | Penn State | 7–3 | 19 | 18 | |||||
| 1971 | Penn State | 11–1 | W Cotton | 11 | 5 | ||||
| 1972 | Penn State | 10–2 | L Sugar | 8 | 10 | ||||
| 1973 | Penn State | 12–0 | W Orange | 5 | 5 | ||||
| 1974 | Penn State | 10–2 | W Cotton | 7 | 7 | ||||
| 1975 | Penn State | 9–3 | L Sugar Bowl | 10 | 10 | ||||
| 1976 | Penn State | 7–5 | L Gator | ||||||
| 1977 | Penn State | 11–1 | W Fiesta | 4 | 5 | ||||
| 1978 | Penn State | 11–1 | L Sugar | 4 | 4 | ||||
| 1979 | Penn State | 8–4 | W Liberty | 18 | 20 | ||||
| 1980 | Penn State | 10–2 | W Fiesta | 8 | 8 | ||||
| 1981 | Penn State | 10–2 | W Fiesta | 3 | 3 | ||||
| 1982 | Penn State | 11–1 | W Sugar | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 1983 | Penn State | 8–4–1 | W Aloha | 17 | |||||
| 1984 | Penn State | 6–5 | |||||||
| 1985 | Penn State | 11–1 | L Orange | 3 | 3 | ||||
| 1986 | Penn State | 12–0 | W Fiesta | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 1987 | Penn State | 8–4 | L Citrus | ||||||
| 1988 | Penn State | 5–6 | |||||||
| 1989 | Penn State | 8–3–1 | W Holiday | 14 | 15 | ||||
| 1990 | Penn State | 9–3 | L Blockbuster | 10 | 11 | ||||
| 1991 | Penn State | 11–2 | W Fiesta | 3 | 3 | ||||
| 1992 | Penn State | 7–5 | L Blockbuster† | 24 | |||||
| Penn State Nittany Lions (Big Ten Conference) | |||||||||
| 1993 | Penn State | 10–2 | 6–2 | 3rd | W Citrus | 7 | 8 | ||
| 1994 | Penn State | 12–0 | 8–0 | 1st | W Rose | 2 | 2 | ||
| 1995 | Penn State | 9–3 | 5–3 | T–3rd | W Outback | 12 | 13 | ||
| 1996 | Penn State | 11–2 | 6–2 | T–3rd | W Fiesta† | 7 | 7 | ||
| 1997 | Penn State | 9–3 | 6–2 | T–2nd | L Citrus | 17 | 16 | ||
| 1998 | Penn State* | 0-3 (9-3*) | 0–3 (5-3*) | 11'th (5th*) | (W*) Outback | 15 | 17 | ||
| 1999 | Penn State* | 0-3 (10-3*) | 0–3 (5-3*) | 11'th (T–4th*) | (W*) Alamo | 11 | 11 | ||
| 2000 | Penn State* | 0-7 (5-7*) | 0–4 (4-4*) | 11'th (T–6th*) | |||||
| 2001 | Penn State* | 0-6 (5-6*) | 0–4 (4-4*) | 11'th (T–4th*) | |||||
| 2002 | Penn State* | 0-4 (9-4*) | 0–3 (5-3*) | 11'th (4th*) | L Capital One | 15 | 16 | ||
| 2003 | Penn State* | 0-9 (3-9*) | 0–7 (1-7*) | 11'th (T–8th*) | |||||
| 2004 | Penn State* | 0-7 (4-7*) | 0–6 (2-6*) | 11'th (9th*) | |||||
| 2005 | Penn State* | 0-1 (11-1*) | 0–1 (7-1*) | 11'th (T–1st*) | (W*) Orange† | 3 | 3 | ||
| 2006 | Penn State* | 0-4 (9-4*) | 0–3 (5-3*) | 11'th (T–4th*) | (W*) Outback | 25 | 24 | ||
| 2007 | Penn State* | 0-4 (9-4*) | 0–4 (4-4*) | 11'th (T–5th*) | (W*) Alamo | 25 | |||
| 2008 | Penn State* | 0-2 (11-2*) | 0–1 (7-1*) | 11'th (T–1st)* | L Rose† | 8 | 8 | ||
| 2009 | Penn State* | 0-4 (11-2*) | 0–2 (6-2*) | 11'th (T–2nd*) | (W*) Capital One | 8 | 9 | ||
| 2010 | Penn State* | 0-6 (7-6*) | 0–4 (4-4*) | 11'th (T–4th*) | L Outback | ||||
| 2011 | Penn State* | 0-4 (9-4*) | 0–2 (6-2*) | ||||||
| Penn State: | 298–136–3 (409–136–3*) | 31-56 (95–56*) | |||||||
| Total: | 298–136–3 (409–136–3*) | ||||||||
*All wins from 1998 through 2011 were vacated by the NCAA as punishment for the Penn State child sex abuse scandal. The decision removed 111 wins and 64 conference wins from Paterno's total. (*) values in parenthesis show original records from before the July 2012 NCAA sanctions.
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