Penn State’s Terry Smith expresses interest in staying at PSU, even if it’s not as the head coach
Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft said emphatically that interim head coach Terry Smith would be a candidate for the full-time job this offseason.
But for Smith to earn the job, with Kraft seeking national championships and leaving little room for error in his next hire, Penn State likely would have needed a miraculous turnaround in the 2025 season.
After a fourth-straight loss at Iowa, that’s far from a reality. And the sledding only gets tougher with games against No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana up next.
Still, Smith is a Penn State lifer. He should be a prime candidate to remain on staff under the next head coach.
He expressed interest in that idea this week.
“I love Penn State. Any opportunity that will present itself, I would pray on it and would entertain the opportunity to always stay here,” Smith said Monday. “We just don’t know what’s next. So I’m grounded in my feet right now and my job is to lead this team the rest of this season and just worry about beating Ohio State.”
Smith played wide receiver at Penn State and was a Nittany Lions captain. His dad and children also graduated from the university.
He came to Happy Valley with now-fired James Franklin in 2014 and has been a staple ever since. His recruiting across Pennsylvania and beyond has been a key factor in Penn State’s success.
“I call this place home,” Smith said in his introductory press conference. “I love this place. I love the blue and white.”
Smith has had his work cut out for him in taking over as interim coach. Penn State entered the year as the No. 2 team and fired Franklin after straight losses against Oregon, UCLA and Northwestern.
A senior-laden roster hasn’t lived up to its potential, and Smith has been left to pick up the pieces.
As a beloved longtime assistant, Smith was always close with members of the program and affectionately known as “Coach T.” He’s the universal truth teller in the room and holds others accountable at every turn.
He acknowledged things are a bit different in his new role.
“Everyone saw me as Coach T, the OG coach. I’m one of the oldest coaches on staff,” Smith said. “It’s kind of like everyone gets quiet when I walk in now.
“But it’s positive in the sense that I’m still Coach T. I’m the guy that still gets along with everyone.
“It’s my job to rally us together. I want to give the players a voice in how this story ends and how we write this next chapter. So it’s always about those guys.”
Smith added Monday that he’s drawn on a clip from former Florida and Ohio State coach Urban Meyer in addressing the immediate future at Penn State.
“The video basically said that we have however many opportunities, games left in the season. We have to put it on film. If we want our next jobs as coaches, we have to coach so that the film shows we’re deserving of our next job,” Smith said. “I showed that to our staff, and we owe it to these guys to pour into them and give everything we can. So we’re going to work our tails off. It’s my job to make sure that the staff doesn’t come up short. We’re going to demand excellence, as we always have here.”
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