In November of 2011 Penn State (and the sports world) was rocked by the Penn State Sexual Assault scandal involving Jerry Sandusky and Joe Paterno, leaving the Nittany Lions football program in a state of despair. To compare the current state of the program to an incredibly horrific situation that occurred previously is insane – but is it really THAT insane to compare the two?
In 2011-2012, the NCAA rained down on the program with 4-year Bowl Ban, scholarship reductions, and a $60 million fine. Bill O’Brien was brought in to right the ship that was sinking quickly and would only stay 2 years before jumping the ship to the NFL – and then James Franklin stepped in and didn’t miss a beat. Franklin would go 104-45 in better part of 12 years at the helm. The program didn’t fall apart despite sanctions and scandals, thanks in part to O’Brien and Franklin.
Fast forward to this year, 15 years post scandal – the Nittany Lions start the 2025 college football season #2 in the country, led by 12th year head coach James Franklin, with a top-20 recruiting class coming into the 2026 cycle.
We have now completed the 2025 season.
James Franklin is the head coach at Virginia Tech after being fired 6 games into the season with a 3-3 record, and there is no head coach in place currently at the school other than the interim Terry Smith who was named when Franklin was let go.
The team is unranked after finishing the season 6-6 (3-6 in B1G play).
Today (December 3rd) is early National Signing Day and the Nittany Lions have the 150th ranked signing class (consisting currently of TWO PLAYERS), with multiple FCS schools rated higher than them in class rankings. Adding insult to injury, Franklin’s Hokies sit at 22nd in the rankings after flipping numerous former Penn State recruits to Va Tech.
Dark, dark days are ahead in University Park, Pennsylvania.
Moving forward, the school has 2 recruits coming in (which in the world of NIL and Transfer Portal doesn’t really mean much in the grand scheme) and no head coach. Where do they go? Who do they hire?
BYU’s Kalani Sitake has turned down an offer to become the head coach of Penn State, deciding to stay at BYU and continue to build the program in Utah.
Ohio State’s Brian Hartline was rumored to be the ideal canidate for the Nittany Lions decided to take a Group of 5 Head Coaching spot at South Florida.
LSU, Auburn, UCLA, and countless other schools have already filled their head coaching vacancies with “their guy”… who is left?
Coaching Options:
Terry Smith – Penn State Interim Head Coach
The easiest option for the school is to lift the Interim tag off of Terry and let him go to work. However, the fact that countless commits chose to flip commitments from the school today isn’t a great showing of faith in Smith’s regime. Smith has been at Penn State since Franklin joined the program in 2014, holding the titles of Cornerback Coach, Assoc. Head Coach, and now Interim. The Penn State graduate however does not seem to have the schools backing in terms of leading the program into the future, a move that seems like it would have already taken place if so.
Brian Daboll – Former New York Giants Head Coach
Daboll was fired from his head coaching position of the New York Giants earlier this season due in part to his lack of success, in a horrible situation. Coming into another horrible position might not be at the top of his list when it comes to coaching opportunities. Daboll has spent a total of 1 year on a collegiate coaching staff (Alabama in 2017) since 2000, and going from the college game after spending two decades in the NFL isn’t always the easy jump people make it out to be, however NIL/Transfer Portal does make it closer to the NFL nowadays.
Manny Diaz – Duke Head Coach
Manny Diaz has lead the Blue Devils to the ACC championship game in his second year in Durham. His tenure in Miami as the Head Coach wasn’t a great success, which led him to returning to his defensive coordinator duties at…where other than – Penn State for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Diaz is 51 years old and has shown his ability to recruit to Miami and Duke, he is familiar with Penn State spending time there recently, and would be a logical seamless transition.
Other Options
Bob Chesney – Head Coach James Madison (reported to sign 5-year deal to be UCLA Head Coach)
James Madison is scheduled to play in the Sun Belt Championship this weekend, led by Bob Chesney. After the game, it is reported that Chesney will sign a 5-year deal to take over a horrendous UCLA Bruins team… could Penn State step in and give him a better deal?
Jeff Brohm – Head Coach Louisville
Leaving your Alma Mater is never what someone wants to do, and I don’t expect Brohm to be doing that any time soon. Reports say that he could possibly be persuaded to leave for the Nittany Lions job, however why would you leave your Alma Mater to take over a worse situation? He is royalty in Louisville and wouldn’t be smart to leave now.
The Only One Who Should Have Been Contacted
Matt Campbell – Head Coach Iowa State
I would love to hear Penn State’s reason as to why this coaching cycle has almost come to a close, and Matt Campbell isn’t the head coach of their program. We know they have money to offer, we know they have a historic program, and we know that they can’t just hire some random coach if they expect to compete in the B1G yearly… enter Matt Campbell.
Campbell’s name circles yearly when big time head coaching spots open up, yet yearly he stays in Ames and continues to have success. He was/is the perfect fit for the Penn State opening, and it’s not too late for them to make it happen.
Only time will tell how the boosters and board of the school handle the football situation, but it isn’t a fun time to be a Nittany Lion.
Till Next Time,
Trevor
