By Joe Rexrode, Scott Dochterman, Ralph D. Russo, Mitch Sherman and Justin Williams
Penn State fired James Franklin in October. The early signing period started Wednesday. When it began, all Power 4 schools that had made a change knew who their head football coach would be for the 2026 season. Except Penn State.
With BYU’s Kalani Sitake deciding this week to stay in Provo rather than accept Penn State’s overtures — after Indiana locked up Curt Cignetti, after Nebraska locked up Matt Rhule, after potential candidate Bob Chesney opted for UCLA, and so on — it’s time to sound the emergency siren. It’s generally not a good idea to skip a year of high school recruiting, even in the portal era, but Penn State had just one 2026 recruit sign on the first day of the early signing period, thanks to the uncertainty at the top of the coaching staff.
Also, this job has too many advantages to have this much trouble getting filled. We’ve convened a committee of Penn State/coach matchmakers to help solve this thing, quickly.
Terry Smith, Penn State interim coach
Just do it. Well, that might be misguided phrasing. But Smith is there. He has support inside the program. And he’s perhaps the only remaining candidate who will never hold it against the administration that he was its seventh or eighth choice. Any head coach hired from the outside must live with knowing that he was a fallback option — and that he’ll be tasked to top the accomplishments of Franklin while Penn State fans, recruits and opponents also know that he was far from the first call . Stop the madness. Control the damage. And if it doesn’t work out with Smith after a year or two, Penn State can start over in the carousel with its feet planted on the ground. — Mitch Sherman
Matt Campbell, Iowa State head coach
What Campbell has done in Ames, at a program with no history of even consistent winning seasons, has been transformative. His 72-55 overall record includes a 50-40 mark in the Big 12. This for a 128-year-old program that is still more than 100 games under .500 overall. He is an Ohio native, who began his career at Toledo, where he was one of the youngest coaches in the FBS and went 35-15 in five seasons. A former D-III player at Mount Union, he talks a lot about building five-star culture and seems a good fit for a school that still believes in the “Success with Honor” blueprint Joe Paterno first established. Campbell drew NFL interest a few years ago from the Lions and Jets. — Ralph D. Russo
Kalen DeBoer, Alabama head coach
There is no need for Penn State to rush into hiring its next coach. The first wave is over. How many new hires will be at their current school in 2028, anyway? Half? So, if it takes another month, so be it. And if the Nittany Lions have assurances DeBoer would want to come north when Alabama’s season concludes, then it’s well worth the wait. DeBoer has the unenviable task of following Nick Saban, who set a standard no one can attain. But DeBoer’s track record and personality would fit perfectly in Happy Valley. In two years, nobody will care about the angst or the small recruiting class. Penn State fans will be too giddy over DeBoer’s success. — Scott Dochterman
Jeff Brohm, Louisville head coach
An offensively inclined coach who has won at multiple stops, including in the Big Ten with Purdue, where he’s the last Boilermakers coach to post a winning record since Joe Tiller retired in 2008. He had success at Western Kentucky before that and has tallied at least eight victories in each of the past three seasons at Louisville. Prying him from his alma mater and hometown, where he’s largely adored, will be tough, but football will always be second billing to hoops for the Cardinals. That could be enough for resource-rich Penn State to lure him to Happy Valley. — Justin Williams
(Update: Brohm reaffirmed his commitment to Louisville on Wednesday, The Athletic confirmed.)
Bob Chesney, James Madison → UCLA head coach
If you’re Chesney, you should get it: Penn State was locked in on Sitake, a successful Power 4 coach, and was keeping you warm in the bullpen. If you’re Penn State, you should get it: Chesney couldn’t just wait around forever and was pressed by UCLA. And now? It’s time for both sides to make it right. Chesney is the young, success-at-every-level coach the Nittany Lions need for long-term stability. Chesney knows damn well how much better of a job Penn State is than UCLA. Has he signed? Has he not signed? Even if Penn State has to compensate UCLA, do it. It will be worth it. — Joe Rexrode
Jeff Monken, Army head coach
Monken is 88-62 at Army, but that doesn’t tell even half the story. The program had been mired in losing for more than two decades when he took over in 2014. After winning six games in his first two seasons, Monken has led Army to three seasons of at least 10 victories — including a school record 12-2 in 2024 — and six seasons of at least eight victories. Most importantly, he ended a 14-game losing streak to Navy in 2015. Monken has been up for a lot of jobs in recent years. There has been some concern about how he would transition away from an option offense, but when he was interviewing for gigs like West Virginia and North Carolina last year, he was pitching hiring successful coordinators such as Akron coach Joe Moorhead, who was at Penn State with Trace McSorley and Saquon Barkley when the Nittany Lions won the Big Ten in 2016. — Ralph D. Russo
