Three Year Deal Could Move Joe Paterno Past Eddie Robinson's 408 Win Record

Eighty-one year old Joe Paterno is doing it again.  While your grandfather is heading out for an  early bird dinner in Delray Beach, Paterno has been preparing plans for the 2009 Rose Bowl and just signed a three year contract extension which gives him a real shot at passing Gramblng's late Eddie Robinson for all-time coaching wins by a Division I college coach.

Paterno currently holds the "major college record" with 383 career wins.  Florida State's Bobby Bowden is two years Paterno's junior and right behind him with 381.

Because Grambling has been a 1-AA program since the distinction was made between 1-A and 1AA, historians consider the two records to be in different classifications.

Robinson, like Paterno, has only coached at one school.  He spent 56 consecutive years at Grambling. This is Paterno's 43rd year as head coach at Penn State while Bowden's resume is a little different.

Bowden has also been in the coaching business for 43 years but has won 32 games at Howard College(Samford University), 42 games at West Virginia and 307 games at Florida State.

Have you ever heard of John Gagliardi?  He owns the all-time record of 453 career wins.  Over the course of 59 years, Galiardi, who is 82 years old has coached at Carroll College and Division III St. John's University so his record doesn't fall under the "major college" category.                                                                    

Eddie Robinson's record was once thought of as unattainable and it's almost impossible to think that Paterno can actually challenge it. If Paterno can win 26 games over the next three years he will exceed the 408 mark. 

No one is counting on him to win this year's Rose bowl, but with the schedule he has lined up for the next three years, he is likely to win eight to nine games each season.  He's averaged ten wins over his last four.

In 2009, Akron, Syracuse,Temple and Eastern Illinois make up Penn State's non-conference schedule.  In 2010 it's Youngstown State, Kent State, Temple and Alabama and in 2011 Penn State has scheduled Alabama,Temple and still have two open dates left to be filled.

With such a light non-conference schedule, all Paterno really has to do is go four and four in the conference and win a bowl and he'll be banging on Eddie Robinson's door.

I wonder if he has the name Gagliardi in the back of his mind?