David Pollack breaks down Penn State coaching search, latest candidates

The Penn State coaching search continues along, now with some concern. The full-time job has been open in Happy Valley since October 12th. During that time, their former head coach James Franklin landed a new job while the Nittany Lions have seemingly struck out on several candidates.

On See Ball, Get Ball, analyst David Pollack shared some of his own thoughts on the Penn State coaching search. That included on a couple of the bigger names tied to the school.

“Nothing on Penn State yet as we wrap up the coaching search,” David Pollack said. “Penn State, they thought they were gonna be first in line, they thought they would probably get a big-name coach. Matt Rhule was the early connection, and I can tell you this, Matt Rhule and the AD at Penn State, buddy-buddy. That got squadouched. It almost happened, it thought about happening, it did not happen. So, obviously, Matt Rhule signs an extension, stays with the Cornhuskers.”

Matt Rhule played at Penn State under Joe Paterno. On paper, that made him an interesting candidate with ties to the school. However, Nebraska locked him up with an extension. He wasn’t alone early. Several other coaches linked to Penn State also got paid at their current schools to stay.

More recently, Penn State was showing interest in BYU head coach Kalani Sitake. However, after the Crumbl Cookie CEO jumped in, he chose to stay at BYU, and the Nittany Lions are back to the drawing board.

“Kalani Sitake from BYU being mentioned. That dude is a different cat now. Cool as it gets. No nonsense. He’s got some fun element to him. I like his personality. That would be a very interesting fit at Penn State, but Sitake, known for aggressiveness, known for fun,” Pollack said.

“And I think that Penn State’s really, really interesting. Because they’re the one that jumped the gun. Fired their coach first, and it looks like they might be last to be the guys to hire their coaches. Everybody’s starting to fill them, and if you look at the coaches that we’re talking about filling them, a lot of SEC filling their jobs first.”

Paul Finebaum labels Penn State coaching search ’embarrassing,’ ‘a disaster’

There is still a chance Penn State lands the right head coach this cycle. For now, though, it’s been a difficult stretch, and Paul Finebaum even thinks that the search has become embarrassing.

“It’s a disaster. How you can go as long as they have gone without hiring a coach? I mean, we’ve been here every day. 10, 15, 20 schools have replaced coaches. What is wrong with Penn State and Heather said something interesting. They have all the money in the world. They had the best class in the country coming into the season, and James Franklin still found a way to screw it up,” Finebaum said.

“I think this program is a shell of its former self. I don’t care how much money they have, but when you’re now heading into the first weekend in December without a coach, it’s pretty embarrassing.”

There is still time for Penn State to make an excellent hire. For now, though, it’s clear there are some questions about where this search is heading.