Hidden deep in a release yesterday highlighting promotions for the upcoming Penn State football season was a tidbit of information announcing the university’s plans to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the late Joe Paterno’s first game as head coach of the Nittany Lions.
The former head coach, fired as a result of fallout from the arrest of former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, passed away in 2012 after a lengthy battle with cancer.
The commemoration will be the first time the university has publicly made mention of the late coach since he was fired in 2011. More information about the honoring of Paterno will be announced the week of the game.
Paterno was in charge of the football program from 1966 until his firing in 2011 leading the Penn State program to two national titles and 18 bowl victories in his 46 years of coaching. The Brown-graduate, prowled the sidelines in his trademark khakis and black Nike’s for the first time as head coach on September 17, 1966 against Maryland, the first of his record 409 victories.
