NSN’s Penn State Head Coach Hot Board 5.0

Believe it or not, we still have (likely) a long way to go before the Penn State coaching search is over.

A lot has happened over the past month, including the contract extensions of Matt Rhule (Nebraska) and Curt Cignetti (Indiana), both of whom were thought to be candidates early on.

There have also been openings created at Auburn, Florida and LSU, making the search more interesting nationwide.

Let’s get into our updated list, starting with some new names.

 

NEW NAMES

 

Eric Morris, North Texas

 

Morris’s resume isn’t going to wow anybody right away. His head coaching experience is limited to three FBS seasons, and his assistant coaching experience— Houston, Washington State and Texas Tech— doesn’t look all that impressive right away. But it’s when he was at Texas Tech that’s important. Morris was an assistant at his alma mater— where he played for the innovative Mike Leach— from 2013-17, spending the last four seasons as offensive coordinator.

For two of those seasons, his quarterback was a guy you may have heard of– Patrick Mahomes.

After Tech, Morris got his first head coaching gig, leading FCS Incarnate Word from 2018 to 21. For his last two seasons, Morris’ starting QB was future No. 1 NFL Draft pick Cam Ward.

Now, he has North Texas 8-1 and is getting top 25 votes. His quarterback, Drew Mestemaker, has a 21-4 TD/INT ratio, and is somebody Penn State fans might like to see in Blue & White next season.

 

KLIFF KINGSBURY, OC, Washington Commanders

 

Since our last hotboard update, NSN confirmed that Kingsbury was a candidate for the job. The offensive mastermind who was Morris’s boss at Texas Tech has hit a rough patch in his run as Washington’s offensive coordinator. After a successful first season in which he helped Jayden Daniels to one of the best rookie QB seasons of all time, an injury to Daniels has derailed his encore in 2025.

Kingsbury was also Mahomes’ head coach at Tech, helped Johnny Manziel to a Heisman Trophy when he was the OC at Texas A&M, and helped make Kyler Murray a Pro Bowler when he was the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.

With that said, Kingsbury’s record as a head coach across the college and NFL levels is 63-77, so it’s fair to wonder whether he’s one of those guys who’s just better as an offensive coordinator.

 

BOB CHESNEY, JAMES MADISON

NSN did a deep dive into Chesney, so I won’t reveal too much here. All I’ll say is that he’s won everywhere he’s been, but he’s never been anywhere inside the Power 4.

 

RYAN SILVERVIELD, MEMPHIS

Silverfield, 45, is in his sixth season at Memphis, where he was an assistant for four seasons before that. Ironically, the first game of Silverfield’s head coaching career took place against Penn State in the 2019 Cotton Bowl.

Mike Norvell had left for Florida State, so it was Silverfield leading Memphis into Dallas.

Penn State won the game, 53-39.

Since then, Silverfield has kept a successful program going. Memphis is on pace for a third straight 10-win season, and if the season ended tonight, it would be in the College Football Playoff.

 

 

MIKE ELKO, TEXAS A&M

Is it likely? Probably not. But you better believe Penn State AD Pat Kraft is going to swing for the fences, and Elko would qualify as that swing. Elko has A&M atop the mighty SEC right now, and to paraphrase Forrest Gump, A&M “has more money than Davy Crockett.” With that said, Elko is from New Jersey and went to college at Penn, so there’s a regional connection there. It’s also fair to wonder how much longer Elko would be willing to put up with A&M’s fanbase, which can be kind of crazy sometimes.

 

An industry source even recommended to ESPN that Elko take the job. So there’s that.

 

DAN MULLEN, UNLV

 

Mullen is a guy with plenty of Power 4 experience, running the programs at Mississippi State and Florida, and he has the endorsement of Urban Meyer to be Penn State’s next guy. To Meyer’s point, Mullen has done quite well at UNLV, but with the Runnin’ Rebels having lost their last two games following a 6-0 start, all hopes of the G5 College Football Playoff bid seem to have been dashed. Mullen also did something not many who have been linked to coaching jobs do: he flat-out said he’d be back at UNLV next season.

 

TYSON HELTON, WESTERN KENTUCKY

Here’s a guy who hadn’t been on NSN’s radar, but since ESPN mentioned him in an article detailing the coaching carousel, Helton might be someone worth taking a look at. He took a Western Kentucky squad that was 3-9 the year before he got there and has made it a consistent winner, having gone to a bowl game in each of his first six seasons. This year has the potential to be Helton’s best yet. The Hilltoppers are 7-2 and in the thick of the Conference USA race.

 

Helton also has Power 4 experience, assisting at USC and Tennessee, where he was the offensive coordinator in 2018 under Jeremy Pruitt before getting the WKU job. If he wants to go back to the Power 4 one day, Penn State would be a massive opportunity to do that.

 

 

RETURNING NAMES

 

ALEX GOLESH, South Florida

 

South Florida has been one of the better stories in college football this year, rising to the top 20 at one point. Golesh has been at the center of it, taking a program that had been 1-11 in 2022 and leading it to consecutive winning seasons, and now a likely double-digit win campaign.

 

He knows how to win and is an offensive mind, having been Josh Heupel’s offensive coordinator at Tennessee from 2021-22. The issue is that South Florida is a different animal from Penn State, and it’s hard to know whether Golesh can win the big games that have been lacking at Penn State because he hasn’t done it much at South Florida (his signature win is over a Florida team that just axed its coach, Billy Napier).

Golesh’s reputation is one of a program builder, which is what James Franklin was, too.

JEFF BROHM, LOUISVILLE

Brohm doesn’t have to prove that he can win big games.

He is 4-1 against top-five teams over his time at Purdue and Louisville, which is as many wins as Franklin’s had in 20 fewer tries.

Brohm has done well aside from the occasional upset win, too.

He finished with a winning record over six seasons at Purdue, which normally is a coaching graveyard. At Louisville, Brohm is 26-9 and 16-5 in the ACC, with one of his latest wins being a stunner at No. 2 Miami. He’s also an offensive mind, which Penn State needs, so, yeah, there’s a lot to like about Brohm.

The problem is, he was a legend at Louisville before he became the head coach, so convincing him to leave his alma mater wouldn’t be an easy thing to do.

At one point, Brohm was a favorite for the job per one odds system. So there’s that.

BRENT KEY, GEORGIA TECH

Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated and others have listed Key as a potential candidate, and there’s a lot to like.

He took over a program in the basement and had it ranked No. 7 before an upset loss to NC State.

He’s an offensive guy who has a national championship ring, having worked under the great Nick Saban at Alabama.

But like with Brohm at Louisville, Key is a Georgia Tech man, so it would take a lot to get him to leave The Ramblin Wreck.

 

 

PAT FITZGERALD, FREE AGENT

I won’t say too much about Fitzgerald since my colleague Kyle Golik laid out the pros and cons of hiring him. What I will say is that Penn State is a different animal from Northwestern.  At Northwestern, James Franklin’s Penn State resume would warrant a statue. At Penn State, James Franklin got fired. The question of how Fitzgerald would perform at a big school is a fair one, as is the PR firestorm that would brew because of the circumstances that got Fitzgerald fired in July 2023.

 

KENNY DILLINGHAM, ARIZONA STATE

 

Dillingham is awesome. He’s 35, led Arizona State of all places to the College Football Playoff, and is only two inches taller than I am. He’s also an offensive guy, which I and many others believe Penn State needs, and has built a culture that keeps talented players from leaving in the age of the transfer portal. So what’s the problem? The problem is, right now, there’s nothing that says Dillingham wants to leave Arizona State.

 

He made a brief joke when asked about his name appearing on lists like this, and there’s nothing now that says Dillingham is looking to leave his Alma Mater.

 

35 is insanely young for Dillingham’s position, so it’s not like this will be Dillingham’s only shot at a big-time job.

 

D’Anton Lynn, USC DC

 

Lynn played at Penn State, which will be the first thing anybody thinks about when discussing his candidacy. He’s also young at 35 and already has experience as a Power 4 coordinator. The problem is, he’s a defensive coordinator, going back to my point about Penn State ideally hiring an offensive mind. Also, Lynn isn’t somebody who would fire up the fanbase should he get hired, which also plays into it.

 

KALEN DEBOER, ALABAMA

 

DeBoer is rolling at Alabama, which is ranked No. 4. Unless things go south, he ain’t leaving.

WILL STEIN, OREGON OC

Penn State fans should know all about Stein, since he runs the offense that started Penn State’s downfall. 

 

The 36-year-old doesn’t have any head coaching experience and has only been a full-time college offensive coordinator for three seasons. But he’s made a huge impact in that short time at Oregon.

 

In 2023, he helped Bo Nix become a Heisman finalist, and did the same with Dillon Gabriel last year. Now, Nix and Gabriel were each successful college starters before going to Oregon, but Dante Moore was unproven before this season.

Now, he might end up in New York for the Heisman ceremony next month.

Penn State fans want somebody who can develop a QB, since many feel it failed Drew Allar. 

Stein’s track record makes him an attractive candidate. Something else to consider is that Oregon has a good chance to make a deep Playoff run, which could impact Stein’s desire to take the job due to the timing. That concern also applies to the next name on our list.

BRIAN HARTLINE, OHIO STATE OC

Speaking of offensive minds still in their 30s, Hartline is a guy who is going to be a head coach one day, and there’s a compelling argument for him to fit at Penn State.

Nittany Sports Now also confirms that he’s a candidate, which Lions247 had reported.

Hartline has a national championship ring, which not a lot of people can say, and there’s nobody better at developing receivers. Now, he’s 8-0, and first-year starting QB Julian Sayin has been fantastic, so maybe he does know what he’s doing as a coordinator, too.

Hartline has a better recruiting record than Stein and, with Ohio State fans being crazy at times, knows what he would be getting into with the Penn State fanbase.

LANE KIFFIN, OLE MISS

Wouldn’t this be something?

 

Well, if Kiffin is to leave Ole Miss, it would probably be for LSU or Florida.

 

MANNY DIAZ, DUKE

Not only did Diaz coach at Penn State, but 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 5-3 with a 4-1 ACC record.

He’s a defensive mastermind with years of Power 4 head coaching experience, having also run 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. Kraft was also the one who hired Diaz for his incredibly brief run as Temple’s head coach after the 2018 season.

Diaz has the endorsement of at least one Penn State defender, so there’s that.

 

MATT CAMPBELL, IOWA STATE

 

Campbell has been a hot name for years, and it’s fair to question if he’s done all there is to do at Iowa State.  

He’s only 45 years old, so he could lead Penn State for two decades if he wanted.

Campbell was one of the names mentioned by national college football analyst David Pollock as a potential fit.

“I think Matt Campbell is a really, really good one,” Pollock said. “He’s done it at Iowa State, where he’s done it with less talent. He wins close games and always puts good offense and discipline on the field. They’ve struggled fresh off a Colorado loss, and that’s not a good place to be. Probably a couple of years ago, the name was hotter, but he’s still a heck of a football coach.”

CLARK LEA, VANDERBILT

“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 as Penn State.

He did lead Vandy to its first winning season since the Franklin era last year, and is off to a 7-2 start this year, having reached to top 10 at one point.

It’s hard to argue at this point that Lea isn’t qualified. But, he grew up in Nashville, went to Vanderbilt and is at a place that put a lot of money into its football program.

It’d be hard to walk away from that.

But at least one insider has reported that Penn State is going to take a swing.

JOE BRADY, Buffalo Bills OC

The second-leading receiver in Penn State history endorsed Brady for the job.

As great an offensive mind as he is, the 36-year-old Bills offensive coordinator has never been a head coach in his life.

Penn State has had bad luck with quality offensive minds since Joe Moorhead left. If Brady comes, he could well break that cycle. At the very least, it would get fans excited. With that said, the Bills are a team that could win the Super Bowl. If that happens, Brady would have to juggle the Penn State job and Bills OC job for almost two months, and it’s possible Brady will leave for an NFL opening, anyway.

 

ELI DRINKWITZ, MISSOURI

 

Since we published our first hotboard, NSN has confirmed that Drinkwitz is a candidate.

Drinkwitz had a lot to say about his name floating around when asked last Monday afternoon. But he never said “I’m not leaving Missouri,” so take that for what it’s worth.

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 seeing 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.

But… as buzz around Drinkwitz isn’t what it was last week, and it’s worth pointing out that Drinkwitz is one of the highest-paid coaches in the country, having just signed an extension over the summer.

As of Nov. 4, Drinkwitz was the favorite for the job per one site. So, there’s that.

 

 

URBAN MEYER

Meyer is one of the greatest college football coaches who has 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.

He’s publicly indicated that he’s happy where he is.