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Penn State coaching search: Pete Thamel offers latest insight on Nittany Lions' next coach

On3 imageby: Dan Morrison16 hours agodan_morrison96
Penn State Nittany Lions logo
Nov 5, 2016; University Park, PA, USA; General view of the Penn State Nittany Lions logo inside Beaver Stadium prior to the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Penn State defeated Iowa 41-14. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

The Penn State Nittany Lions fired head coach James Franklin back on October 12th. Now, a little over a month later, Franklin is the head coach at Virginia Tech and the Nittany Lions are still looking for their next coach to lead the program.

That isn’t to say that Penn State isn’t actively looking for a replacement. Athletic director Pat Kraft certainly is. However, as ESPN insider Pete Thamel explained on the College GameDay Podcast, it’s become a difficult coaching search to gauge lately.

“There is a little bit of an aura of mystery hanging over the Penn State job right now,” Pete Thamel said. “I can’t — I could probably give a list of Penn State candidates with a lot less conviction than I could all of the other big jobs that are open right now. It’s going to be interesting theater.”

Some of the initial names that had been rumored for the Penn State job, seemingly, came off the board quickly. That included Matt Rhule, who signed an extension at Nebraska, and Curt Cignetti, who signed an extension at Indiana. Had those been serious candidates at Penn State, then they seemingly came off the board. In return, the Nittany Lions would need to pivot.

One thing is clear, what James Franklin accomplished at Penn State is going to be a hard act to follow. He left with a record of 104-45 there, including six double-digit win seasons. It was just the big games and getting over the hump where he largely fell short.

“I think there was ambition by Pat Kraft when they fired James Franklin to try to go big and to try to land a thumper name, and I certainly don’t want to say that ambition has abated,” Thamel said. “But I think there are some market realities that have set in there with who’s going to go to the Playoff, combined with a couple of raises, where yeah, it’s going to be a very interesting calculus to see where he ends up. I could not give you the favorite. I couldn’t say with reasonable certainty, ‘I think it’s gonna be this guy.’ Or, ‘This guy’s the leader. This guy’s the backup.’ I’d just be disingenuous if I did that.”

Penn State and James Franklin recently came to a negotiated buyout. Initially reported to be a $49 million buyout, which included a duty to mitigate, the two sides negotiated his buyout down to $9 million. That was possible because he got the Virginia Tech job. Now, with that behind the two sides, Penn State will continue looking for a replacement.