Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Penn State Football

Tony Rojas, Other Penn State Players Frustrated by Coaching Search

Tony Rojas had two sacks for Penn State against Villanova.
Photo by Matt Lynchm, Nittany Sports Now

The Penn State coaching search is a mess.

There’s no nice way to put it. 

51 days after Penn State fired James Franklin, it doesn’t have a coach.

Penn State Fires James Franklin

Kentucky fired head coach Mark Stoops this weekend and, less than 48 hours later, hired Will Stein.

Some searches have lasted days. Penn State’s has lasted months. 

There doesn’t appear to be a clear end in sight.

People are getting significantly frustrated.

Include linebacker Tony Rojas in that group. 

After reports that BYU head coach and PSU frontrunner Kalani Sitake is staying in Utah, Rojas took to social media to express his annoyance with the hiring process. 

“This is just funny at this point ngl (not gonna lie) lol,” Rojas said on Twitter. “We might go a whole season with no head coach, when we clearly got a head coach right upstairs in the office, don’t understand 🤦‍♂️”

Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.

Rojas threw his support behind interim head coach Terry Smith, who many players have supported with “Hire Terry Smith” signs and public praise for him.

Exclusive: Meet The Penn State Fan Who Created The ‘Hire Terry Smith’ Signs

The post was also retweeted by Drew Allar.

Penn State safety King Mack also sent a tweet about the search.


Smith served as associate head coach, cornerbacks coach/defensive recruiting coordinator before being named interim head coach and guiding Penn State to a 3-3 record. 

“Coach T is right upstairs, man,” Rojas said. “All these interviews and ‘global search’ when the man is upstairs above us.”

Rojas missed most of the season with a season-ending injury in early October. He is from Fairfax, Virginia, and could soon join James Franklin at Virginia Tech when the transfer portal opens.  

Penn State is bowl eligible after winning its final three games. It might not hurt PSU to hire Smith and potentially retain a large portion of the roster, especially with relatively no recruits expected to sign on Wednesday.

The Penn State coaching search continues.

Get NSN in your Inbox

Enter your email address to get notifications of new posts by email.

More from Nittany Sports Now

Penn State Football Recruiting

0s The top Class of 2028 from Western Pennsylvania has committed to Penn State. Early Thursday afternoon, Hayes Fawcett of Rivals.com first reported that...

Penn State Women's Basketball

0s A new era of Lady Lion Basketball has begun in State College. This new era is being led by head coach Tanisha Wright....

Penn State Football All 105

0s This is one in a series of stories breaking down each of the players on Penn State Football’s 2026 roster. Xxavier Thomas came...

All 105

0s This is one in a series of stories breaking down each of the players on Penn State football’s 2026 roster. Donte Nastasi’s Penn...