Penn State coaching candidates: Who replaces James Franklin?
After firing a coach with Franklin's credentials, the Nittany Lions need to aim high.
Penn State is a top-10 job. That wasn’t the case when James Franklin arrived, but he made sure of it through his 12-year tenure in Happy Valley.
You don’t spend $40+ million to move on from one coach without having ambitions of winning it all with a new guy.
The problem is, only three active coaches have won it all. And one of them (Dabo Swinney) isn’t exactly a hot commodity at the moment.
But to get from really good (final four last year) to national-title good, you have to swing for the fences. And there just aren’t many proven commodities out there right now.
Still, there are plenty of good coaches, many of whom would gladly run to State College and take over a program that regularly packs 107,000 fans into its stadium, which itself is undergoing an $800 million renovation.
With that kind of price tag, this place will pay to win.
Here’s a look at some potential candidates.
This piece will be regularly updated as more information becomes available.