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Joseph Vincent "Jay" Paterno Jr. is an American football coach who was most recently the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the
Penn State Nittany Lions football The Penn State Nittany Lions team represents the Pennsylvania State University in college football. The Nittany Lions compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference, which they joined in 1993 af ...
team under his father
Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions from 1966 to 2 ...
, former head coach of the team. Also active in politics, Paterno unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Party nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania in 2014. He is currently a member of the Penn State Board of Trustees.


Playing career

Paterno played on the
Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interc ...
football team from 1986-1990 under his father
Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions from 1966 to 2 ...
. He was a reserve
quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
during his senior year, in which he lettered. He also played for State College Area High School.


Coaching career

Paterno was on Penn State's staff for seventeen seasons, twelve of which he served as the quarterbacks coach. He created Penn State's "HD offense" which utilized skill players to touch the ball in a variety of ways. Derrick Williams played under this system. He also coached Michael Robinson to a Heisman Trophy finalist season in 2005. Paterno also served as the tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator. Prior to being on the PSU staff, he served as a graduate assistant at
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
from 1990 to 1992, wide receivers and tight ends coach at
Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
in 1993, and as the quarterbacks coach at
James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...
in 1994. Paterno's coaching career at Penn State came to an end following the hiring of new head coach Bill O'Brien on January 7, 2012. In 2011 Paterno was named best quarterbacks coach in the Big Ten by rivals.com. In 2008, he was named one of the best offensive coaches in the country following a Rose Bowl season.


After Penn State

Since his father's death and his dismissal, Paterno has written several guest columns. He has spoken at several young voters rallies including one sponsored by PSU Votes, a nonpartisan political initiative where both he and Penn State women's basketball coach
Coquese Washington Coquese Makebra Washington (born January 17, 1971) is a former collegiate and professional basketball player and former associate head coach at Notre Dame. She is currently the head basketball coach for the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights wom ...
spoke. Paterno sued Penn State University in federal court claiming the university violated state and federal law in dismissing him in January 2012, but the lawsuit was dismissed.


Personal life

Jay has four siblings: Diana, Mary Kay, David, and Scott. Unlike his father, who was a staunch
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
, Jay is a Democrat, and supported
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
during the
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
and
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
presidential elections. In October 2013, several outlets reported that Paterno was considering running as a Democrat in , which is based in State College.Isenstadt, Alex
Joe Paterno’s son looks at run for Congress
The Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and inte ...
, 2013-10-24.
Instead, Paterno announced in February 2014 that he would be a candidate in the Democratic primary for
Lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania The lieutenant governor is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The lieutenant governor is elected for a four-year term in the same year as the governor. Each party picks a candidate for lieutenant governor independently o ...
in the 2014 election. Ultimately, he withdrew from the race in March 2014, citing the desire to avoid a legal battle over a challenge to his petition to achieve ballot access. Paterno has five children, including a son named Joseph Vincent Paterno III.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paterno, Jay American football quarterbacks American people of Italian descent UConn Huskies football coaches James Madison Dukes football coaches Joe Paterno Living people Penn State Nittany Lions football coaches Penn State Nittany Lions football players Pennsylvania Democrats People from State College, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania Virginia Cavaliers football coaches Year of birth missing (living people)