Joe Paterno: his rise and fall – in pictures

Joe Paterno was born in Brooklyn in 1926 and served in the army during WWII before going to Brown University, where he played quarterback and cornerback. He moved to Penn State in 1950 where he became assistant coach before becoming head coach in 1966 Photograph: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Paterno is the only coach to have won each of the current four major bowls—Rose, Orange, Fiesta, and Sugar. One particularly memorable victory was in the 2006 Orange Bowl, when Penn State beat Florida State 26–23 in triple overtime Photograph: RHONA WISE/EPA

Paterno's Penn State career was marked by high achievement on the field and extreme longevity by head coach. He led the Nittany Lions football team to two national championships in 1982 and 1986 and five undefeated seasons 1968, 1969, 1973, 1986, and 1994. Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1993 and won the Big Ten championship in 1994, 2005, and 2008 Photograph: Matt Rourke/AP

In 2007 Paterno was inducted to College Football Hall of Fame and in 2010 the Big Ten Conference established the Stagg-Paterno Championship Trophy. He is the only college football coach to have more than 400 career victories Photograph: Ken White/Getty Images

During his career Paterno has turned down many offers to coach NFL teams, including the Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants and New England Patriots Photograph: Rhona Wise/EPA

But in 2008, ESPN's Outside The Lines revealed a litany of football players' off-the-field legal problems Photograph: Jim Prisching/AP

Paterno's long and glorious career crashed among the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal. He announced that he would retire at the age of 84 at the end of his 46th season as head coach with the Nittany Lions. But he was fired by the university's trustees Photograph: Paul Vathis/AP