Penn State’s coaching search has officially entered the danger zone - and the clock is ticking.
After parting ways with James Franklin during the 2025 season, the Nittany Lions are still without a head coach. And with the coaching carousel spinning at full speed, most of the top-tier candidates have already found seats.
All six open SEC jobs have been filled. So have vacancies at UCLA, Virginia Tech, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Oregon State, and Colorado State.
In other words, the market is drying up fast.
One of the more recent names to surface was BYU’s Kalani Sitake. Penn State reportedly made a serious push for the Cougars’ head coach, who has steadily built a tough, physical program in Provo.
But on Tuesday, reports confirmed that Sitake is staying put. BYU is locking him down with a new deal expected to pay him between $9 and $9.5 million annually, plus a major NIL and revenue-sharing commitment in the $10 to $15 million range.
That kind of backing from BYU sends a clear message: they’re not letting Sitake go without a fight - and they won.
There were also whispers that Penn State had eyes on Tennessee’s Josh Heupel, a coach known for his up-tempo offense and program-building chops. But Heupel shut that down Monday night, stating he’s not a candidate and is focused on what he’s building in Knoxville. That’s another swing and a miss for the Nittany Lions.
With Sitake and Heupel off the board - along with other previously rumored targets like Eli Drinkwitz, Clark Lea, Pat Fitzgerald, Alex Golesh, Kalen DeBoer, Marcus Freeman, and Bob Chesney - Penn State’s options are narrowing. What began as a high-stakes, high-expectation search is now looking more like a scramble.
That’s not the position Penn State expected to be in when it made the bold call to move on from Franklin. Sure, the 3-3 start in 2025 was disappointing, especially for a program with College Football Playoff aspirations.
But let’s not forget the bigger picture: Franklin went 11-2, 10-3, and 13-3 from 2022 to 2024. Those are strong seasons by any measure.
Still, in Happy Valley, strong wasn’t enough. Now, Franklin’s already landed on his feet at Virginia Tech - one of the many schools that wasted no time locking in their next era.
So what now for Penn State?
The remaining names being floated include Louisville’s Jeff Brohm - a proven offensive mind who’s had success in both the Big Ten and ACC - and Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline, a rising star in coaching circles with deep recruiting ties. There’s also Brian Daboll, recently fired by the New York Giants, who brings NFL experience and a reputation as a quarterback developer. Each has their appeal, but none are slam-dunk hires in the way PSU fans might’ve hoped when this process began.
The reality is this: Penn State will hire someone. But with many of the A-list candidates already spoken for, the hire may come from further down the board than originally anticipated.
That’s not necessarily a death sentence - plenty of great coaches have come from outside the spotlight. But for a program that made a big bet on change, the pressure to get this right is now sky-high.
The Nittany Lions are still a top-tier job. The facilities, the fan base, the recruiting footprint - it’s all there. But the longer this search drags on, the more it feels like Penn State is playing from behind.