As the Penn State coaching search rolls on, one candidates are continuing to fall off the board, and one such candidate might officially be off after his team’s commanding 37-9 win Saturday afternoon.
The idea of Marcus Freeman becoming Penn State’s next coach always seemed like a long shot, but had Pitt beat Freeman and Notre Dame Saturday afternoon, it would have knocked ND out of Playoff contention and made thinks more interesting.
But now that Notre Dame has beat Pitt and only has games with Syracuse and Stanford remaining, it seems that the Irish are a lock for the College Football Playoff, which would all but seal any hopes of Freeman leaving for Happy Valley.
To be clear, Freeman leaving Notre Dame for Penn State’s would have been a long shot regardless.
Freeman is set up pretty good in South Bend at the moment, and the common thought is that the only way Freeman would leave Notre Dame is for an NFL job, or if the Ohio State job opens up (Freeman was once a linebacker for the Buckeyes).
But Notre Dame making the Playoff again would make it all kinds of challenging for Penn State to hire him.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.For one, it’s harder to walk away from the team that made the Playoff than it is from a team that didn’t.
Also, the logistics of a coach having to start with his new program in the middle of January as opposed to some time shortly after Thanksgiving are very complicated in today’s world of college football.
The Penn State coaching search is ongoing.
Follow NSN for updates throughout.
