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Joseph Vincent "Joe" Paterno ; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), often referred to as "JoePa", was an American college football coach who was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions for nearly 46 years, from 1966 through 2011.[1] At the time of his death he held the record for the most victories by an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) football coach with 409 and was the only FBS coach to reach 400 victories.[2] He coached five undefeated teams that won major bowl games and, in 2007, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach. Despite his achievements as a coach, Paterno's career ended abruptly in 2011 after he was fired for his "failure of leadership" in the child sex abuse scandal surrounding his former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky