Penn State Trustee publicly pushes to name Beaver Stadium field after Joe Paterno

In light of recent reporting around a potential private move to honor Joe Paterno, one Board of Trustees member made a public push to honor the late Penn State football coach Friday. During a public Board of Trustees meeting, Anthony Lubrano introduced a resolution to rename the field at Beaver Stadium after Paterno and establish a Joe and Sue Paterno Day. However, at the request of the former Nittany Lions coach’s son and fellow Penn State Trustee Jay Paterno, the resolution will not be moving forward at this time.

Penn State Trustee Anthony Lubrano makes public call to rename Beaver Stadium field after Joe Paterno

Joe Paterno’s name was thrust back into the headlines Thursday after Spotlight PA reported on private meetings among some Penn State Board of Trustees regarding a potential move to honor the late Penn State football coach. According to the report, several trustees met privately on two occasions in January to discuss renaming the football field at Beaver Stadium after Paterno.

The report elicited strong responses from both supporters and detractors of how the university has treated Paterno’s legacy after he was fired in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal in 2011. But some also contend that the meetings violated Pennsylvania state law requiring the Board to conduct its business in public.

On Friday, the behind-the-scenes push to honor Joe Paterno was made public. During the Board of Trustees public meeting, Trustee Anthony Lubrano, an ardent Paterno supporter, introduced a resolution to rename the Beaver Stadium field after the ex-Nittany Lions coach. The resolution would also create a “Joe and Sue Paterno Day” to honor the couple in the fall. According to Wyatt Massey, who penned the original article for Spotlight PA, Lubrano said the resolution was a “moment of truth” for the school, and the university should not succumb to “fear-mongering.”

Breaking: Penn State Trustee Anthony Lubrano has introduced a resolution to the board to name the field at Beaver Stadium after former football coach Joe Paterno, as well as creating a Joe and Sue Paterno Day sometime in the fall.

— Wyatt Massey (@News4Mass) February 16, 2024

However, the resolution will not be moving forward, for now. Speaking after its introduction, Trustee Jay Paterno, son of the legendary coach and former Penn State football assistant, requested the resolution be withdrawn and held for a later date. Paterno expressed that the views of the university and board leadership that do not want the resolution to move forward should be respected.

But even within the Board meeting, the move was not met without controversy. Speaking after Jay Paterno, Trustee and Penn State football letterman Brandon Short voiced his support for the resolution, but blasted “political stunts” using Paterno’s name. Short expressed that the Board should not introduce such a resolution and then withdraw it.

Legendary coach honored outside football field for the first time

Even if his name will not be adorning the Nittany Lions’ playing surface at this time, Joe Paterno was honored at Beaver Stadium this fall. Paterno’s name and likeness now appear on a plaque on an exterior wall of the stadium, along with the other head coaches in Penn State football history. The plaque is the first time the university has publicly honored Paterno around Beaver Stadium since his statue was removed following the Sandusky scandal in 2012.

Joe Paterno remains the winningest coach in FBS history with a career record of 409 victories. Before the 2023 season, the only active coach in the top five of all-time FBS wins was Nick Saban. With Saban’s retirement from Alabama in January, Paterno’s record will likely remain in the history books for quite some time.

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