Pete Thamel confirms there was 'no traction' on Kalen DeBoer, Penn State rumors

As Penn State’s coaching search went along following James Franklin’s departure, rumors connected Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer to the opening. He shot those down Thursday, and ESPN’s Pete Thamel confirmed there was “no traction” between the two sides.

Penn State’s 53-day search took multiple turns, and BYU coach Kalani Sitake emerged as a name to watch at one point before ultimately re-upping to stay in Provo. The Nittany Lions have now turned their attention to Iowa State’s Matt Campbell and are working to finalize a deal, On3’s team of insiders reported.

DeBoer, however, was not involved much – if at all – in the search. Thamel acknowledged Penn State AD Pat Kraft sought big names, but the Alabama coach was not necessarily a serious candidate.

“That did not happen, Paul,” Thamel said on The Paul Finebaum Show. “That did not happen. There was a lot of pushback from a lot of sides. Kalen, himself, said something yesterday. Look, Kalen DeBoer is of the Midwest. He is not of the South. And Pat Kraft, to his credit, firing the coach Oct. 12 he did go big-game hunting. He did go knock on the doors of a lot of high-end football coaches, which is very common in a search. You want to get your search done in three days, you go knock on some doors.

“But I was told there was no traction on either side from DeBoer and trying to bring him there. Obviously, the logistics of that alone would make it virtually impossible – just like a Mike Elko hire, just like a Marcus Freeman hire, because of the College Football Playoff. Yeah, those were logical names and geographic fits. They buzzed around and met a bunch of people and did their homework on the search.”

Penn State ‘shifted relatively quickly’ to Matt Campbell

On3 first reported Kilani Sitake as the target of Penn State’s coaching search this week, but the BYU coach ultimately chose to stay put. That meant the Nittany Lions had to pivot, and Pete Thamel said they did so “quickly” toward Matt Campbell at Iowa State.

In the process, he said the school likely ended up with someone he thought would be the hire when the search began. A deal is expected to come together soon.

“The real only other path they went down in any depth was with Kalani Sitake, who essentially verbally agreed to go there, Paul,” Thamel said. “When that went public and he had a change of heart – the pull of family, the pull of church, BYU grad, from being there – Penn State shifted relatively quickly.

“They end up at a place where, quite frankly, if you had asked me on Oct. 13 who they would have hired, I would’ve said Matt Rhule or Matt Campbell. Those would be the two most logical names. They circled back, they ended up with Matt Campbell. Once this thing gets tidied up here in the next few hours, they will have a very good football coach.”