James Franklin’s tenure at Penn State is over. A team expected to compete for a National Championship fell well short of their goals. Three straight losses which included losses to a winless UCLA team and a home loss to Northwestern have taken a Penn State team who was considered a National Championship contender to now a fringe bowl team. Penn State is going to be an intriguing option for a lot of potential coaches but who are some coaches who can outperform Franklin? Obviously this year he fell short but he also had six seasons with 10 or more wins. Making this change means they need to find someone who is better and not just someone to fill his shoes. Let’s talk about some names who will come up and some they should look to target.

Curt Cignetti (Indiana Head Coach)

Love him or hate him, Curt Cignetti wins. He has ties to the state of Pennsylvania growing up in Pittsburgh and taking his first head coaching job at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He took Indiana to the playoffs in his first season as a Hoosier and now beat Oregon on the road and is in a prime position to make the playoffs again. Cignetti would be a great hire but a few questions need to be answered. Cignetti will turn 65 before the start of the 2026 season, realistically you are looking at six to eight years at maximum. Is Penn State okay knowing he will be there less than a decade? Next, should Indiana make the playoffs, you’ll be waiting on him. He isn’t going to accept a job in the middle of the playoffs. If it drags into January, is Penn State fine with waiting and potentially losing out on recruits and the new single window transfer portal? If you can suck it up and know year one might be a struggle, he could be a great fit.

Matt Rhule (Nebraska Head Coach)

Pat Kraft is certainly going to give his old friend Matt Rhule a call. There are too many links even if Rhule isn’t any better than Franklin. Kraft worked with Rhule at Temple where the Owls beat Penn State and won the American Conference championship. Rhule is a Penn State alum playing for the Nittany Lions from 1994 to 1997. Here’s the thing, I don’t believe Rhule is any better than Franklin. He has had his own fair share of losing tight games to ranked teams (example: Michigan earlier this year). Hiring a coach with the same problems as the previous one would not solve any issues. You are not fixing any problems, you are simply masking them until you’re ready to make another change. Rhule’s name will be brought up but in no way should they hire him.

Fran Brown (Syracuse Head Coach)

Fran Brown is one of my personal favorite coaches in college football. He keeps it real. He is not afraid to speak his mind. He does what is best for his players and builds an incredible culture within his program. Brown said he was not leaving when he took the Syracuse job. Brown is 3-3 this year but he had a brutal schedule and also lost his starting quarterback for the remainder of the year. He may struggle to reach a bowl game this year but I think if you are looking for a young, up and coming head coach, Brown would be a great fit. He understands the transfer portal and how to find the best fits for his team. He is a northeastern guy coaching at Temple and Rutgers as well.

Manny Diaz (Duke Head Coach)

Manny Diaz is the former Penn State defensive coordinator spending 2022 and 2023 under James Franklin. He left to become Duke’s head coach compiling a 13-6 record over the last two seasons. Diaz struggled at Miami and was fired after three seasons which is how he ended up at Penn State. Would Diaz move the needle enough to satisfy the Penn State fan base? What is the true upside of Diaz and is it higher than Franklin’s? It is hard to truly see how good of a head coach Diaz is at Duke because it is more difficult to recruit. Getting recruits to Penn State is significantly easier than it is to get recruits to Duke.

Eli Drinkwitz (Missouri Head Coach)

Eli Drinkwitz is a name being floated as well. Why would Drinkwitz want to leave Missouri? I can think of a handful of reasons, one being it is easier to make the College Football Playoffs. Missouri has four top 20 teams on their schedule. Drinkwitz has never coached in the northeast, the closest he has been has been Appalachian State and NC State but honestly that is not a concern. He has been recruiting at a high level including stealing Matt Zollers out of Penn State’s backyard and bringing in Beau Pribula to be his starter. You have to convince Drinkwitz to leave Missouri and maybe he’s interested but maybe he likes the situation he’s in.

Alex Golesh (USF Head Coach)

Alex Golesh has been named for every job opening so far and he will continue to be named for every opening. We saw USF score 63 points on North Texas and they had a chance to score 70 but kneeled the ball out inside the red zone. USF has beaten Florida and Boise State and lost to Miami. The Bulls are in a great spot to make the College Football Playoffs. One of the biggest questions is a similar one to Cignetti. If USF makes the playoffs, will they wait for Golesh? No coach is going to leave his program during a playoff run. Leaving your team when you make a New Year’s Six Bowl was one thing, now they’re playing for a National Championship no matter how bleak their hopes are. The best case scenario is they lose in the American Championship and Golesh is 11-2 and available to take a new job in early December.

Bob Chesney (James Madison Head Coach)

Bob Chesney would not be a sexy hire by any means but he comes from Pennsylvania roots and he wins. Chesney is only 48 years old and already has 15 years of experience as a head coach ranging from Division 3 to FBS football. Chesney took over at James Madison after Cignetti left for Indiana and the program was raided with transfers heading to the Hoosier state. Chesney was able to win nine games in his first season and has James Madison at 5-1 in year two. He owns a career record of 125-51 and just one losing season in his career (his first season at Holy Cross). He has northeast ties and recruits the same area as Penn State. James Madison has a strong chance to win double-digit games and gave Louisville a fight earlier this season before suffering their only loss.