Comparing better coaching openings between Florida, Penn State

Of the 11 head coaching jobs currently open around the FBS, Florida and Penn State are likely viewed as the top two available on the coaching carousel. So, if Josh Pate were a candidate right now, would he prefer the job with the Gators or with the Nittany Lions?

Pate answered that question on Thursday morning during his weekly appearance on ‘Get Up.’ He said his preference, based on location and resources, would be to go down to The Swamp. However, that wasn’t to say that, if the two schools went after the same candidate, one wouldn’t find his reasons to instead go to Happy Valley.

“Well, if I’m the coach, I’m taking Florida,” Pate said. “If I’m the generic coach in the blank there, I’m taking Florida, because I need the best access to talent where I’m going to go anyway, which is the state of Florida. The money is good at both places. Facilities? I’ve been in both in the past six months. They’re incredible. Infrastructure at Florida has come a long way. But, I look at it? I like warm weather, okay. I like the proximity to talent. So, that’s me.

“But, you could have a guy who prefers the Northeast, you could have a guy whose wife has family in rural Pennsylvania, and all these different, unique ties. That’s why it comes down to the candidate.”

Again, depending on the candidate pool, there are likely few cons to being at either Florida or Penn State. Both are brand-name schools in the key conferences in college football, respectively, in the SEC and the Big Ten. Each, then, has the assets from there, whether on the field or in opportunities for name, image, and likeness, to recruit at a level that could allow whichever coach is next there to contend for titles. It’s just a matter of which coaches are hired by each program next, following the midseason firings of James Franklin (104-45) by the Nittany Lions and Billy Napier (22-23) by the Gators.