The odds of Terry Smith becoming the full-time head football coach at Penn State are slim.
For this to have been a realistic possibility, PSU would have had to win out or come close to it in Smith’s six regular-season games as interim coach.
The team lost Smith’s first game in the role Saturday, Oct. 18, at Iowa, and its next two matchups are against the No. 1 (Ohio State) and No. 2 (Indiana) teams in the country.
So the better question is, if Smith isn’t the next full-time coach at Penn State, what will be next for his career?
Will whoever does get the job keep him on the staff?
Will he move on from Penn State and coach somewhere else?
We won’t know for sure for a while, but Smith addressed the topic in his weekly press conference Monday.
WHAT TERRY SAID
“I love Penn State,” Smith said. “Any opportunity that will present itself, I would pray on it and would entertain the opportunity to always stay here.
“We just don’t know what’s next. So I’m grounded in my feet right now, and my job is to lead this team the rest of this season and just worry about beating Ohio State.”
If there’s any path at all to Smith becoming PSU football’s next coach, it would have to involve beating the Buckeyes in Columbus.
IF ANYBODY IS GOING TO STAY…
Whoever the next head football coach at Penn State is, they probably won’t keep too much of the existing staff. The next guy is going to want his guys around, and that’s just how it is. But if anybody is going to stay on staff, Smith would be most likely.
He’s the only coach who was with James Franklin for his entire 11.5-year run. He played at Penn State in the late 80s and early 90s, and his experience as defensive recruiting coordinator– especially in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area– has made him a huge factor in Penn State getting talent.
If there’s only one coach that the next guy keeps, Terry Smith would make the most sense.
Penn State takes on No. 1 Ohio State in Columbus Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for noon on Fox.
