The Joseph V. Paterno Award was a coaching award that was awarded to

Frank Beamer Franklin Mitchell Beamer (born October 18, 1946) is a retired American college football coach, most notably for the Virginia Tech Hokies, and former college football player. He is the father of current South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Shan ...

in 2010. Originally the award was intended to be awarded annually to the college football

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

who best exemplified " Penn State head coach

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 ...

’s dedication to the development of student-athletes and the advancement of the university beyond just athletics". The award was presented by the Maxwell Football Club, based out of

Ambler, Pennsylvania Ambler is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is located approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the Center City Philadelphia. History Lenape The historical territory of the Lenni Lenape was in the Delaware River Valley, in a ...

. It replaced the

George Munger Award The George Munger Award is presented to the NCAA Division I college football coach of the year by the Maxwell Football Club. The award was named after former University of Pennsylvania head coach George Munger. People who voted for the winners ...

, which was presented by the club each year from 1989 to 2009. Following the breaking of the

Penn State sex abuse scandal The Penn State child sex abuse scandal concerned allegations and subsequent convictions of child sexual abuse committed by Jerry Sandusky, an assistant coach for the Penn State Nittany Lions football team, over a period of at least fifteen years ...

in November 2011, the club announced that the award would be discontinued.

Award criteria

To determine the winner of the award in 2010, the staff of the Maxwell Football Club solicited nominations from 69 FBS schools. Winning and exceeding expectations on the field were vital components of the evaluation process, but the club also reviewed graduation rates of the players and the coach’s overall impact on the community, including philanthropic and volunteer efforts. The award was meant to exemplify the tag line that is given for the award, i.e., "Excellence Doesn’t Stop on Saturdays".

Winner

References

{{College football award navbox College football coach of the year awards in the United States Awards established in 2010 Awards disestablished in 2011