Penn State needs a new head football coach after firing James Franklin early Sunday afternoon.
Over the next however many days/months until Penn State hires a new head coach, there will be plenty of hot boards, disgusting who Penn State might hire.
Here is our first one.
MATT RHULE
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – JULY 27: Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule during the Big Ten Conference Media Days on July 27, 2023 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN (Photo by James Black/Icon Sportswire)
Let’s get the elephant out of the room first. A lot of Penn State fans don’t want Rhule, citing his poor record against ranked teams (2-23) as evidence that he’d be a worse version of the man Penn State just fired. But three undeniable factors make Rhule a realistic candidate:
- His connection with AD Pat Kraft, who he worked with at Temple
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The fact that he played at Penn State
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He’s won enough that Penn State should at least consider him.
Rhule turned around Temple (2013-16) and Baylor (2017-19) and now has Nebraska 5-1 and ranked.
He’s not the most attractive pick, but he’s a winner.
CURT CIGNETTI
COLUMBUS, OH – NOVEMBER 23: Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti talks to his players during the game against the Indiana Hoosiers and the Ohio State Buckeyes on November 23, 2024, at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, OH. (Photo by Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire)
There’s no hotter coaching name in college football right now than Cignetti, who has taken Indiana from the pits of the Big Ten to national championship contention in less than two years.
Unlike Rhule, hiring Cignetti wouldn’t polarize the Penn State fanbase.
With that said, he’s right at retirement age (will be 65 next year) and there’s not much reason for him to want to leave what he’s building at Indiana, especially with Mark Cuban’s wallet.
MATT CAMPBELL
Campbell has been a hot name for years, but just doesn’t seem to have a desire to leave Iowa State.
Not even last year, when Campbell led Iowa State to its first-ever 10-win season— even winning the legendary Pop Tarts Bowl— did he leave, and now he’s in Year 10.
Campbell is only 45 years old, so he’s a guy that could lead Penn State for two decades if he wanted.
MANNY DIAZ
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now: Defensive Coordinator Manny Diaz during pregame warmups.
Like with Rhule, the connection here is obvious.
Not only did Diaz coach at Penn State, he did so during Kraft’s tenure, leading elite defenses in 2022 and ‘23, which helped him to become the head coach at Duke before the 2024 season.
Diaz went 9-4 in Year 1 at Duke and is currently 4-2 with a 3-0 ACC record.
He’s a defensive mastermind with years of Power 4 head coaching experience, having also ran Miami from 2019-21. But it’s fair to question if hiring a guy who worked with Franklin is the best way to move on from him.
CLARK LEA
“If he can turn Vanderbilt into a winner, imagine what he could do at Penn State?”
That’s the attitude that got Franklin hired 11 years ago. Could lightning strike twice?
Like Franklin, Lea took over an awful program in Nashville, and also like Franklin, he made Vandy relevant again.
With that said, it’s hard to say that Lea has proven enough at Vanderbilt to warrant a job as big at Penn State.
He did lead Vandy to its first winning season since the Franklin era last year, and is off to a 5-1 start this year.
But with four ranked teams left on the schedule, it’s concivable that Vandy finishes 7-5, with a sixth loss coming in the bowl game.
Would two straight seven-win seasons be enough to get the Penn State job? Although there’s a lot to like about Lea, who will be 44 in less than a month, it’s fair to wonder if he’s done enough to deserve such a promotion.
JOE BRADY
The second-leading receiver in Penn State history endorsed Brady for the job. But as great of an offensive mind as he is, the 36-year-old Bills offensive coordinator has never been a head coach in his life. If he didn’t coach at Penn State as a graduate assistant in 2015-16, would he even be in the discussion?
ELIAH DRINKWITZ
He’s 42 and has made Missouri one of the best programs in the SEC. He also has Beau Pribula, who plenty of Penn State fans wouldn’t mind see coming back.
It also might not be the worst thing for Penn State to move from a program builder to an offensive guru, which Drinkwitz is.
URBAN MEYER
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the mainnnn event!”
Meyer is one of the greatest college football coaches who ever lived. It’s documented that Meyer was a candidate for the job after the 2011 season. Of course, that didn’t happen. Meyer went to Ohio State, won a national title and won seven of eight games against Penn State.
The first question to ask regarding Meyer’s interest in coaching Penn State is if he wants to return to coaching at all. He hasn’t coached since 2021 and hasn’t coached at the college level since 2018. Since then, NIL and the transfer portal have changed the game.
Does Meyer want to return to coaching at all? If not, then the point is moot.
