FC: How Attractive is the Penn State Head Coaching Job?

My own guess: with the exception of maybe ten, every non-NFL coach has given the position some thought. Big time money and a great tradition.

Whiney, entitled fanbase- which is pretty commonplace these days. I'd rather to be the guy after the next guy, but show me the money.

Nitt1300 said:

Whiney, entitled fanbase- which is pretty commonplace these days. I'd rather to be the guy after the next guy, but show me the money.

Imagine perhaps the most loyal fanbase expecting a signature win more than once a decade? Whiney indeed!

Nitt1300 said:

Whiney, entitled fanbase- which is pretty commonplace these days. I'd rather to be the guy after the next guy, but show me the money.

You're not wrong, Best and worst fans around. I love the ones that think this has solved everything and a MNC is just around the corner. PSU is closer to becoming Neb than they are tOSU....tough pill for some to swallow or hear, but time will tell. Maybe PSU is the team that doens't spiral into a coaching change every 2-3 years though and just wins MNC's in the era where everyone can pay.

Lipstick on a pig. 😞

LaJollaCreek said:

You're not wrong, Best and worst fans around. I love the ones that think this has solved everything and a MNC is just around the corner. PSU is closer to becoming Neb than they are tOSU....tough pill for some to swallow or hear, but time will tell. Maybe PSU is the team that doens't spiral into a coaching change every 2-3 years though and just wins MNC's in the era where everyone can pay.

Historically yeah but as for trajectory, PSU has the $ and recruiting base to get back to the top with the right hire. As for Nebraska, those days are over. Nebraska will never be able to attract enough talent to win it all again.

We are…. More Sidney Sweeney than a Rosie O’Donnell. Only thing missing in the resume is recent NC. We are… very doable .

MacNit said:

Imagine perhaps the most loyal fanbase expecting a signature win more than once a decade? Whiney indeed!

Exactly. Heaven forbid the best win in 9 years be better than Boise St.

LionsAndBears said:

Historically yeah but as for trajectory, PSU has the $ and recruiting base to get back to the top with the right hire. As for Nebraska, those days are over. Nebraska will never be able to attract enough talent to win it all again.

You think so...UM, tOSU, USC, and Oregon alone just in our conference can spend and recruit with us.....some with even more $$'s to throw around. This notion that we are just a coaching change away of a fun dream for sure, but the odds are against PSU winning a MNC in the next decade with or without Franklin. I understand the change as you can sell it as this being the year an tank that badly, but I just think many fans are naive to think this is the big step they think it is. If this job is so great we'll see who ends up filling it and what support they get. The one thing people forget or refuse to accept is PSU still has idiots that fought against progress for the program for years. Money for assistants was a battle, upgrades to the football facilities was a battle, recruiting budgets to stay in step with our rivals were a battle. I hope they knock it out of the park with the hire and PSU goes on a crazy good run, but I'm also pretty realistic about it....and it may not pan out the way some are thinking.

We fans are the biggest strength and the biggest difficulty for anybody taking this job. We’re not realistic about the challenges here. The article is correct about location. When Joe was in his prime, western PA produced huge amounts of high school football talent. That is no longer the case. The youth population and corresponding high school football talent in western Pennsylvania has fallen off a cliff. Eastern PA is still strong, but not strong enough to compensate for the decline of Western PA talent, which used to be the best in the country. Franklin to his credit recruited the mid Atlantic very well.

LMTLION said:

We fans are the biggest strength and the biggest difficulty for anybody taking this job. We’re not realistic about the challenges here. The article is correct about location. When Joe was in his prime, western PA produced huge amounts of high school football talent. That is no longer the case. The youth population and corresponding high school football talent in western Pennsylvania has fallen off a cliff. Eastern PA is still strong, but not strong enough to compensate for the decline of Western PA talent, which used to be the best in the country. Franklin to his credit recruited the mid Atlantic very well.

This is why when people bring up Smart and Richt that they don't understand.....Georgia is a top 5 producing state and it sits on top of a top 3 producing state. Is there enough talent around in the northeast and mid atlantic to compete....sure, but ND, tOSU, UM, and the entire SEC also go up there. PSU now more than ever has to look further than before and to be fair they were doing ok with it, but nothing compared to the schools that CONSISTENTLY bring in top 5-7 classes. PSU may have one a decade and the rest of the time they are at 10-15, that is the reality of it.

LMTLION said:

We fans are the biggest strength and the biggest difficulty for anybody taking this job. We’re not realistic about the challenges here. The article is correct about location. When Joe was in his prime, western PA produced huge amounts of high school football talent. That is no longer the case. The youth population and corresponding high school football talent in western Pennsylvania has fallen off a cliff. Eastern PA is still strong, but not strong enough to compensate for the decline of Western PA talent, which used to be the best in the country. Franklin to his credit recruited the mid Atlantic very well.

I would argue that Eastern PA has fallen off a cliff as well. Just not as steep as Western. Our roster used to be packed with kids from the Scranton/Wilkes Barre, Lehigh Valley and Bucks/Montgomery areas. You still see some, but not many. The one possible exception is Philly and we lose a lot of them to the other guys.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6250250/2025/04/03/college-football-most-popular-team-fans/ We came in 6th most popular composite. There is a lot of fan support. So unhappy "noise" is magnified by hundreds of thousands. Home attendance 2nd Living Alumni- 2nd to Indiana :oops: Merch Sales- 9th Stub Hub tix demand- 7th TV veiwership , rated over 4 mill views 2021-2024, 6th Facilities, NIL, and coaching salaries ( IIRC last season composite staff was #1) are all in place. Fans are fired up after JF himself said best players, best staff in 12 yrs LTFI. Any top ten position is going to be rabid for big time wins. This is a big stage. Best bring your big boy pants.

Very. And the salary of the next guy will prove it; likely top three in college football. All that alignment-ing Franklin did will pay off too. And if you really want to see alignment, watch if Rhule is hired - Kraft will give him whatever he wants.

StamfordBridgeVikingatLeftOffensiveTackle said:

https://www.statecollege.com/articles/penn-state-football/how-attractive-is-the-penn-state-head-coaching-job/

To us, it’s meh. To Billy Bob Johnson, coach of any program in the South, it’s $$$.

Catch1lion said:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6250250/2025/04/03/college-football-most-popular-team-fans/ We came in 6th most popular composite. There is a lot of fan support. So unhappy "noise" is magnified by hundreds of thousands. Home attendance 2nd Living Alumni- 2nd to Indiana :oops: Merch Sales- 9th Stub Hub tix demand- 7th TV veiwership , rated over 4 mill views 2021-2024, 6th Facilities, NIL, and coaching salaries ( IIRC last season composite staff was #1) are all in place. Fans are fired up after JF himself said best players, best staff in 12 yrs LTFI. Any top ten position is going to be rabid for big time wins. This is a big stage. Best bring your big boy pants.

We need more Walmart fans.

LMTLION said:

We fans are the biggest strength and the biggest difficulty for anybody taking this job. We’re not realistic about the challenges here. The article is correct about location. When Joe was in his prime, western PA produced huge amounts of high school football talent. That is no longer the case. The youth population and corresponding high school football talent in western Pennsylvania has fallen off a cliff. Eastern PA is still strong, but not strong enough to compensate for the decline of Western PA talent, which used to be the best in the country. Franklin to his credit recruited the mid Atlantic very well.

It’s not unique to PSU. Michigan fired two coaches in six years including RichRod after two. If you think Bama would have kept Saban around with the kind of record Franklin put up against ranked opponents, I have a ballroom in DC to sell you.

Midnighter said:

Very. And the salary of the next guy will prove it; likely top three in college football. All that alignment-ing Franklin did will pay off too. And if you really want to see alignment, watch if Rhule is hired - Kraft will give him whatever he wants.

No doubt. The printing press of borrowed money PSU has rolled out, and will likely to continue to roll out, is the #1 attraction - to a situation that was plenty attractive to begin with. That said, PSU has 4, maybe 5 years tops, until the $$$ wheels come falling off of the train. (PSU won't be the only school with such issues, of course, but the $700 M and "best in class" bonfire-ing of cash, kind of cemented PSU into a spot where their conundrum will be among the most severe) Then there will have to be a "great reset", and no one knows how that will be dealt with. Those are issues most college football Coach candidates are going to be "zero" concerned with (or even aware of), but it does put a timeline on the termination point of business as usual.

Catch1lion said:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6250250/2025/04/03/college-football-most-popular-team-fans/ We came in 6th most popular composite. There is a lot of fan support. So unhappy "noise" is magnified by hundreds of thousands. Home attendance 2nd Living Alumni- 2nd to Indiana :oops: Merch Sales- 9th Stub Hub tix demand- 7th TV veiwership , rated over 4 mill views 2021-2024, 6th Facilities, NIL, and coaching salaries ( IIRC last season composite staff was #1) are all in place. Fans are fired up after JF himself said best players, best staff in 12 yrs LTFI. Any top ten position is going to be rabid for big time wins. This is a big stage. Best bring your big boy pants.

Great points. This is a top 10 job. Even some of the schools people are putting ahead of it have major downsides: Oregon has next to zero tradition, a stadium capacity of 50k, and really no viewerships outside of some casuals in the PNW. Unlimited money? Sure. But that fanbase is one of the weaker in college sports, especially vs a PSU. USC? Their fan attendance is embarrassing. If you take out the Carrol years, USC was only relevant in the 60s and 70s. They're just another college team in a pro sports town. SoCal has good recruiting grounds but everyone knows you can't build a program's trenches on the west coast. They have BIG donors and that's about it. With the rumored salary Kraft is throwing around, let's allow him to cook a bit. There's no reason to panic nor think we're going to get some sort of scrub. He's either going to get someone that's playing into December or he's going to snag a young up and comer that's going to jolt some life into the program. This won't be over until December IMO.

I think the only way to get the hype and winning back is with a home run hire of someone who is or has been successful. If the hype(close to winning NC) and winning comes back, the money will flow in to cover the costs of new stadium and salaries. If the money doesn't flow, the wheels will come off

StamfordBridgeVikingatLeftOffensiveTackle said:

https://www.statecollege.com/articles/penn-state-football/how-attractive-is-the-penn-state-head-coaching-job/

With Kraft as your boss, not very. You’ll know you’ll be coming in with unrealistic expectations, spoiled, fair weather fans, and a two or three year leash tops. BUT…..you can probably sign a huge buyout, steal a LOT of their money over that period of time while you look for a better job, and have your wife and kids live somewhere warm where they won’t be devastated when you either move on, or more likely, get fired after only winning 70% of your games. Pay me enough money and give me a high enough buyout???? I’m in like O’Brien until I can find something better or get fired. Otherwise, no thanks (unless I’m Matt Rhule, Terry Smith, or maybe, knowing Pegula has your back, Joe Brady).

ESPN Has the PSU job as the most attractive opening so far - University support and recruiting area that stretches far South with no other traditional powers near by. It is ESPN though.

TheWizardofCamelot said:

There's no reason to panic nor think we're going to get some sort of scrub.

Too late.

Lion84 said:

ESPN Has the PSU job as the most attractive opening so far - University support and recruiting area that stretches far South with no other traditional powers near by. It is ESPN though.

That says a lot since they’re pro-SEC and anti-PSU. I think so far we have the number one slot follow closely by Florida. If LSU comes into the mix, I would say that’s a better landing spot. Florida State is certainly in the conversation if they make a move.