Penn State Coach Joe Paterno has been selected as the 2002 recipient of the American Football Coaches Association's Amos Alonzo Stagg Award. The award will be presented to Paterno at the Sears/AFCA Awards Luncheon on January 8 during the 2002 AFCA Convention in San Antonio, Texas.

Its purpose is "to perpetuate the example and influence of Amos Alonzo Stagg." The award is named in honor of a man who was instrumental in founding the AFCA in the 1920s.

He is considered one of the great innovators and motivating forces in the early development of the game of football. The plaque given to each recipient is a replica of the one given to Stagg at the 1939 AFCA Convention in tribute to his 50 years of service to football.