Copyright Mechanicsburg Patriot News
This year’s college football coaching cycle is simply going to be wild. Penn State, Florida and LSU (thanks to Brian Kelly’s firing Sunday) have already opened. Those are all easily top-10 or 20 jobs nationally. Virginia Tech, UCLA, Arkansas and Oklahoma State are among others open at the Power Four level. More appealing jobs should open by year’s end, too. Looking at you, Auburn. When Penn State fired James Franklin, it seemed as though the Nittany Lions would have their pick of the litter as the top available job on the market. That’s arguably no longer the case, especially with LSU open. And that will impact Penn State’s chances to reel in plenty of big fish. After dropping a list of eight candidates who made sense last week, we’ll take the temperature on a huge pool of candidates this week. Are they hot, warm or cold? Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri head coach: Hot Drinkwitz has turned Missouri into a perennial top-25 team after the Tigers struggled for quite some time. Missouri lost to Vanderbilt this past weekend — and lost starting QB Beau Pribula to injury — in a big hit to its College Football Playoff hopes. That bodes well for Drinkwitz moving on, as programs will prefer having a new coach in place in early December. He’s a proven winner and an intriguing candidate in Happy Valley. The biggest question is whether Pat Kraft can pull him away from the south. Matt Rhule, Nebraska head coach: Hot Rhule’s name will be here until 1. Nebraska collapses this season or 2. another head coach is named at Penn State. He’s close with Kraft, is a Penn State letterman and has support behind the scenes. Plus, Rhule and the Cornhuskers already did something this season Franklin couldn’t at Penn State: beat Northwestern at home. OK, that was a little cruel, but we’re trying to have some fun with all the chaos. Mike Elko, Texas A&M head coach: Cool Elko has been a popular name in the past few weeks as he has the Aggies humming as the nation’s No. 3 team. He’s from New Jersey and went to Penn, so he knows the region well. But a few things work against his case. He’s on track for a CFP appearance, and even if Texas A&M falls shy of it, he may be a candidate at other SEC schools. It’d also be shocking if Texas A&M didn’t try and extend Elko and build on his $7 million salary. Kraft will swing big, and Elko fits the mold, but there are too many obstacles to consider him hot or even warm. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama head coach: Hot Alabama lost to Florida State early this season, and that had Crimson Tide fans clamoring for DeBoer’s job after a 9-4 year in 2024. The Tide also seemed to show some cracks in a narrow win over middling South Carolina this weekend, though they still sit at No. 4 nationally. If Alabama misses the CFP again this year, it would be no surprise to see one of the sport’s biggest brands look for a change at the helm. But DeBoer has had success at every stop and could fall right into Kraft’s lap. Brian Hartline, Ohio State offensive coordinator: Warm Could Penn State be playing against its future head coach this weekend? The Lions travel to Columbus to face No. 1 Ohio State, where Hartline has had a nice debut season as the offensive play caller. His recruiting acumen speaks for itself, too, especially at wide receiver. Kraft may prefer head coaching experience over a coordinator, and Hartline may still be too green as a candidate. But he’d be an interesting, high-risk-high-reward option. Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame head coach: Cool Freeman’s name keeps popping up online. Maybe he’s willing to leave Notre Dame for the right situation. But the open Florida and LSU jobs are the key here. Penn State will try, but if Freeman does leave, chances are the Lions wouldn’t win an arms race with SEC powers. There’s no doubt he’d be an attractive choice. It just doesn’t feel particularly likely. Urban Meyer, FOX college football analyst: Warm If Meyer wants to coach again, Penn State could be a good fit. He has won national championships at both Florida and Ohio State and is one of college football’s most iconic coaches. He’s probably not the top choice. But he’s on the table, so Meyer gets a “warm” designation. Clark Lea, Vanderbilt head coach: Warm Would Penn State go to the Vanderbilt well again? It mostly worked out last time with Franklin, who was the Commodores head coach before arriving in Happy Valley. Lea has Vanderbilt at No. 9 in the AP Poll, something unheard of in Nashville. That’s a resume worth a promotion. But, like Elko, a CFP berth is a complication, as is other open SEC jobs. Jeff Brohm, Louisville head coach: Cool Brohm has had success at Purdue, a tough place to win, and now Louisville, his alma mater. Back home with a clear path to the CFP every year in the ACC? There doesn’t seem to be much motivation for Brohm to leave. But he’s a good football coach, and it would be an interesting swing for Kraft. Joe Brady, Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator: Cool Brady, a former graduate assistant at Penn State, keeps coming up in coaching cycles. But he’s done a good enough job in the NFL to warrant looks at a promotion or raise there. Bob Chesney, James Madison head coach: Warm You can’t expect to recreate the spark Indiana captured by hiring Curt Cignetti from James Madison, leading to an immediate CFP berth and a likely one again this year. But JMU’s Cignetti replacement is ironically an interesting choice to try that model with. He’s 6-1 in Year 2 after a 9-4 mark last season. Chesney hails from small town Kulpmont, Pennsylvania, not far from State College. He doesn’t have much high-level experience, but before JMU, he led Holy Cross to five straight winning seasons. It would be a risk. But a fun one, to be certain. Al Golden, Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator: Cool Golden is similar to Rhule thanks to his past ties to Penn State. But he’s much less attractive considering his mixed results as a head coach more than a decade ago. He’s best considered a backup plan at this point. Manny Diaz, Duke head coach: Cool The former Penn State defensive coordinator is well-known as an elite motivator, and he would have support from players who were recruited and coached by him at Penn State. But Diaz hasn’t shown he can succeed consistently as a head coach, and that probably wouldn’t go over well with a hungry PSU fan base. Terry Smith, Penn State interim head coach: Cool Smith should be a priority to be on the next head coach’s staff. He bleeds Penn State and is an important recruiter in Pennsylvania and beyond. But his only realistic chance at getting the full-time gig lay in a miraculous turnaround of the 2025 season. A one-point loss at Iowa and challenging games against Ohio State and Indiana coming up will likely end his case. Ryan Silverfield, Memphis head coach: Warm If Kraft wants to target a successful lower-level head coach like Indiana did with Cignetti, Silverfield is probably the best choice. He has Memphis staring down a potential CFP bid this season at 7-1, and he’s finished each of the past two years with double-digit wins. Silverfield should get a promotion soon. Will it happen this offseason, and at Penn State?
