Joseph Vincent "Jay" Paterno Jr. (born 1968) 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. Penn State Nittany Lions, The Nittany Lions compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivisi ...

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 football, Penn ...

, former head coach of the team. Also active in politics, Paterno unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Party nomination 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 of Pennsylvania, governor. Each party picks a candidate for lieutena ...

in 2014. He is currently a member of the Penn State Board of Trustees.

Playing career

Paterno played on the Penn State Nittany Lions football team from 1986–1990 under his father

. He was a reserve

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

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 U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

from 1990 to 1992, wide receivers and tight ends coach at

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

in 1993, and as the quarterbacks coach at

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

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 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, Jay is a Democrat, and supported

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

during the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

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

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...

, 2013-10-24. Instead, Paterno announced in February 2014 that he would be a candidate in the Democratic primary for

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 1968 births 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 Centre County, Pennsylvania Virginia Cavaliers football coaches State College Area High School alumni