The Penn State Nittany Lions football team represents the Pennsylvania State University in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference.
Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno was Penn State's head coach for nearly 46 seasons, during which time he accrued 409 wins, more than any other Football Bowl Subdivision football coach. On July 23, 2012, the NCAA vacated all of Penn State's wins from 1998 through 2011 as part of its punishment for the child sex abuse scandal, eliminating 111 of the games Paterno had coached and won, dropping him from second to 12th on the list of winningest NCAA football coaches. Paterno was fired in 2011 in the midst of a child sex abuse scandal involving a former assistant coach. In response, the NCAA fined Penn State $60 million, vacated Paterno's 111 wins between 1998–2011 and banned the team from bowl games for four years.
Bill O'Brien was hired to replace Paterno. He was introduced as Penn State’s 15th head football coach at a press conference on January 7, 2012.
Read more about Penn State Nittany Lions Football: Current Coaching Staff, Child Sex Abuse Scandal, Coaching History, Bowl History, Current NFL Players, College Football Hall of Fame Inductees, Pro Football Hall of Fame Inductees, Future Schedules, Charity and Awareness Efforts, Penn State Football Radio Affiliates
Famous quotes containing the words penn, state, lions and/or football:
“Storytelling and copulation are the two chief forms of amusement in the South. They’re inexpensive and easy to procure.”
—Robert Penn Warren (b. 1905)
“But is it not the fact that religion emanates from the nature, from the moral state of the individual? Is it not therefore true that unless the nature be completely exercised, the moral state harmonised, the religion cannot be healthy?”
—Harriet Martineau (1802–1876)
“I am afraid if there is anything to be afraid of. A precipice cannot hurt you. Lions and tigers can. The streets of New York I consider more dangerous than the Matterhorn to a thoroughly competent and careful climber.”
—Annie Smith Peck (1850–1935)
“People stress the violence. That’s the smallest part of it. Football is brutal only from a distance. In the middle of it there’s a calm, a tranquility. The players accept pain. There’s a sense of order even at the end of a running play with bodies stewn everywhere. When the systems interlock, there’s a satisfaction to the game that can’t be duplicated. There’s a harmony.”
—Don Delillo (b. 1926)