Penn State fired James Franklin after parts of 12 seasons as head coach Sunday. Here are five candidates athletic director Pat Kraft likely will — and five candidates he should — consider as Franklin's replacement.
Will
— Curt Cignetti, Indiana head coach — His results at Indiana over the past couple of seasons would be undeniable regardless of his origins. He led the historically moribund Hoosiers to the College Football Playoff with an 11-1 mark in 2024, and they're thus far undefeated in 2025 with a win this past weekend over the No. 3 ranked Oregon team that initiated James Franklin's fall by beating him and the Nittany Lions in the White Out at Beaver Stadium a few weeks ago.
Throw in deep Pennsylvania roots, and he's a shoo-in for an interview — if he wants one. The Pittsburgh native not only graduated from West Virginia and coached at Pitt; he led IUP to national prominence at the Division II level, proving an ability to find picked-over talent and turn it into a winner just a few mountain passes over from Happy Valley.
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On the downside, he is 64. But Penn State isn't looking for a long-term program builder at this stage, anyway. It's looking for a finisher unburdened by the pressures of the moment. Cignetti fits that bill with a decorated resume that also includes successful stops at Elon and James Madison.
Should
— Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri head coach — He doesn't have exposure to any great coaching trees. He doesn't have many ties to anywhere close to State College. And he hasn't spent any time in the NFL. What he has done is win like crazy in less-than-ideal situations.
He famously took Penn State to overtime as Appalachian State coach in 2019 and won a Sun Belt championship with that team. And he's 26-6 for the Tigers over the last three seasons. His signature win is a 14-3 beating of Franklin nemesis Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl a couple of years ago. And he's scored ranked wins against the likes of No. 15 Kansas State, No. 24 Kentucky and No. 14 Tennessee in 2023. Plus No. 24 Boston College in 2024.
Certainly, there are high-profile losses mixed in there, as well. But Missouri isn't exactly the program you think of as an SEC powerhouse, anyway, so it would be interesting to see what he could do with the resources a program like Penn State could afford him.
Will
— Matt Rhule, Nebraska head coach — Let's be blunt: He is the Joe Paterno legacy candidate, having played and coached under him in the 1990s. Penn State would not otherwise be interested in his 64-57 career record at the college level. Or his profound struggles against ranked teams. He's 2-23 against the Associated Press top 25 all-time and 0-11 against the top 10.
He has just one 10-win season at the power conference level back at Baylor in 2019. That's not good enough. In fact, it's a worse redux of everything Penn State fans say they hated about Franklin. Alas, he has those Paterno ties that would motivate a lot of older alumni to write a lot of donation checks out of nostalgia. And given the fiscally hardline approach that president Neeli Bendapudi has taken with the university at large over the last handful of years, that may be all that matters in the end.
Should
— Joe Brady, Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator — This one is quite layered. Resume wise, he has everything Penn State could want. He was one of OC Joe Moorhead's top lieutenants en route to the 2016 Big Ten championship, giving him a front row seat to one of the best offenses in school history — one led by Saquon Barkley, among the biggest names in the NFL today.
From there, he became the passing game coordinator at LSU in 2019. The Tigers immediately went on to win one of the most dominant national titles we've seen in the modern era with Joe Burrow behind center in 2019. And since then, he's added tons of NFL experience. He's Josh Allen's play-caller in Buffalo currently, putting him at the forefront of the coaching profession in many ways.
The problem? Penn State mega donor Terry Pegula owns the Bills. Would he really want to give Brady up in his current role? And even if he did, could Penn State wait deep into January or even February to hire its next coach if Brady is going on an extended postseason run? Frustratingly complicated questions Pat Kraft would have to ponder while considering this potential home-run hire.
Will
— Manny Diaz, Duke head coach — Franklin's former defensive coordinator produced units that stand out even within an already rich tapestry at Penn State. His 2023 group that landed him the Blue Devils job finished second in total defense and third in scoring defense nationally. Only the national champion Michigan Wolverines were consistently better on that side of the ball.
Beyond those lines on his CV, he boasts deep ties to talent-rich Florida as a Miami native. Most of his other stops span SEC and ACC territory from which Penn State and other programs are increasingly sourcing their top talent.
The drawback here is his actual win-loss record as a college coach. His 21-15 record at Miami got him fired there before Franklin scooped him up for the coordinator job. And while his 13-6 record thus far at Duke is impressive given that school's lack of football tradition, he hasn't demonstrated the big-game know-how Penn State should be looking for.
Should
— P.J. Fleck, Minnesota head coach — His resume mirrors Drinkwitz's in a lot of ways, though he's done it over a longer span of time for the Golden Gophers as their coach since 2017. Penn State fans will remember him as their nemesis in two of the more excruciating games of the Franklin era.
The first was in 2019, when he upset the fifth-ranked Nittany Lions en route to an 11-2 season and Big Ten championship appearance. That victory foiled one of Franklin's better teams that included future standout pros like Micah Parsons and Pat Freiermuth. Then last season, he nearly took Penn State down again. A late rally that included a gutsy fourth-down fake punt call allowed the Lions to survive by a 26-25 margin.
Still, he's demonstrated an ability to grind out victories against rosters that outmatch his. And his bruising, ball-control style fits with the Penn State identity well. He's another who might just need some resources to turbo charge a demonstrated record of consistency.
Will
— Al Golden, Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator — He was the favorite of Paterno acolytes before he flamed out at Miami with a 32-25 record from 2011 to 2015. Before that, the Penn State grad posted a successful stint at Temple, which always gets the attention of the monied alumni base in and around Philadelphia.
It's what he's quietly done since that could make him a darkhorse, though. He's made NFL assistant stops with the Lions and Bengals, leading to his hiring as the Bengals' DC this past offseason. And in between, he led a dominant defense at Notre Dame that notably foiled Penn State in the College Football Playoff national semifinal at the Orange Bowl back in January.
Recruits will value all of that in this NIL age, probably more than they'll look unfavorably upon results from a decade ago. Don't count him out as a guy who may have a better story to tell than Rhule while also motivating that same Paterno loyalist faction to open their collective wallets.
Should
— Brian Hartline, Ohio State offensive coordinator — What has Penn State's biggest problem of the late Franklin period been? Wide receiver play. Who's responsible for some of the most consistently dynamic receiver play we have possibly ever seen in the sport? This guy.
Since taking over as the position coach for his alma mater in 2018, he's mentored huge names including Terry McLaurin, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Jaxson Smith-Njigba, Marvin Harrison Jr., Emeka Egbuka and Jeremiah Smith. He's seen what it takes to win national championships up close, having co-masterminded the Buckeyes' title-winning offense a year ago. And he's been a key part of a staff that has consistently kicked Penn State's tails on the recruiting trail.
It's a package that will be hard for anyone to compete with — but only if he's willing to leave Columbus. An open question given his bright-scarlet ties there.
Will
— D'Anton Lynn, USC defensive coordinator — A former cornerback for Paterno at Penn State, he lacks the experience of other legacy candidates like Rhule and Golden. He's only been in the coaching ranks since 2014 and has never held a head coaching job at any level.
He comes from pedigree, though. His father, Anthony, has a long NFL resume that includes a stint as the Los Angeles Chargers' head coach from 2017-2020. And D'Anton himself has worked with the Jets, Bills, Chargers, Texans and Ravens as an assistant. That experience has helped him make a name for himself in Los Angeles, where he also led the UCLA defense before defecting to the rival Trojans last season.
His familiarity with the talent-rich corridors of Southern California should therefore make him an appealing candidate should Penn State look to go in the up-and-coming direction.
Should
— Will Stein, Oregon Ducks offensive coordinator — Look, the resume is thin for a job of this caliber. The 36-year-old never held a coordinator job before 2022 at the University of Texas-San Antonio. Twice now as Oregon OC, however, he's solved Penn State's vaunted defense in big-game settings, both last year in the Big Ten title game and this year in the White Out at Beaver Stadium.
He led QB Dillon Gabriel to a victory against Ohio State in Eugene last year, as well. And he had Bo Nix and the Ducks in the mix for a Pac-12 title in 2023. Most importantly? He's the closest thing you can get to Dan Lanning, the Oregon head coach whom many see as the model coach for where the sport is going in 2025.
It would certainly be a leap of faith for Kraft and Co. But if Penn State wants to take a leap onto the leading edge of innovation in college football, Lanning's top lieutenant is probably the guy with whom you want to talk.
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