Less than a month ago, Penn State had legitimate national championship aspirations. The school is currently looking for a new coach after… James Franklin's sacking on Sunday.
Franklin's fall was stunning, rapid and historic. loss type (Oregon) this defined his tenure at Penn State, and continued with two more losses (against majors UCLA underdogs and Northwestern), which do not exist. A season-ending injury starting quarterback I drew everything against Northwestern added more misery to a terrible day in Happy Valley.
Thus, Franklin's 11-plus years at Penn State ended in the same calendar year that Penn State reached the national championship threshold but fell to Our Lady in the CFP semifinals. Penn State entered this season with a champion-or-bust mission, and boy did it all go wrong. Although things quickly fell apart for Franklin, it became more difficult for him to envision a path forward, despite his many successes at the University of Pennsylvania.
Where does PSU go from here? The school has invested heavily in equipment, NIL and other areas. Director of Athletics Patrick Craft is a football player who wants to win at the highest level. Penn State has access to talent in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest and can regularly compete to achieve important goals. The team can set high goals for candidates, including those from the Big Ten, and of course target those with experience winning the biggest games.
Here are a few candidates Penn State could pursue, as well as the roster and recruiting situation during the coaching transition. — Adam Rittenberg
Candidates | Transfers | Recruits
Five candidates for this position
Nebraska coach Matthew Rhule: Rule's match rate at Penn State is off the charts. Rhule went on to play linebacker for the Nittany Lions and also worked under Kraft at Temple, where he was head coach from 2013-16. They remain very close, although this friendship – and maintaining it – may ultimately hurt the chances of a reunion. Then again, how many coach-AD combinations that know each other so well get a chance to team up again and compete for a national championship? Rhule won at his previous college stops, Baylor and Temple, and put Nebraska on track for a 5-1 third-year run. He's a former NFL coach who now has some Big Ten experience and won't shy away from a big job. Rhule, 50, also enjoys playing at Nebraska and has helped the program emerge from a long slump. But can he win a national title there? He, of course, can at his alma mater.
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti: Perhaps no move would shake the Big Ten more than Coach Seag's move to Penn State. He doesn't have the same relationship with Kraft as Rhule and is more involved with Penn State's regional rivals Pitt (an assistant from 1993 to 1999) and West Virginia, where he played quarterback and where his father Frank coached. But Cignetti won more than anyone could have imagined in historic Indiana, where Kraft played football. Cignetti wins and wins big, including his first coaching stop at Indiana University-Pennsylvania, where he went 53-17 with three appearances in the Division II playoffs. Cignetti, 64, could spend the rest of his career in Indiana, but if he does make a move, it will have to be somewhere with the resources to consistently compete for national titles.
Iowa State coach Matt Campbell: His name has appeared frequently on lists like these over the years, but Campbell has remained loyal to Iowa State, a program he has built into a Big 12 contender. Penn State has long been mentioned as a program that might intrigue him, along with fellow Big Ten players Ohio State and Michigan, as well as Notre Dame. Campbell will bring offensive and defensive experience that could serve Penn State long after Franklin's tenure ends, where the offense never reached its potential. He played a season at Pitt before finishing his career at Mount Union in his home state of Ohio, where he spent his entire coaching career before taking the job at Iowa State. It appears the time is right for the 45-year-old to make a big move, and Penn State would be a smart landing spot.
Duke coach Manny Diaz: There are many opinions about how Diaz’s stay in Miami went and how it ultimately ended for him there. But it is preparing for a possible move to a program on the same level as the US. Could it end up being Florida State, his alma mater, or another program in the ACC and Southeast where he primarily lived and coached? This is quite possible. But he also spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons as Penn State's defensive coordinator, elevating the Lions' defense to the national elite before heading to Duke, where he is 13-6 in his second season. Diaz will bring new energy to the Penn State program and an aggressive defensive philosophy that served the Lions well during his two seasons there. He can recruit players on the East Coast and Mid-Atlantic and has an overall FBS coaching rating of 34-21.
UNLV coach Dan Mullen: With UNLV off to a 6-0 start in Mullen's first season, the market will be looking at him from several angles. Yes, his tenure in Florida fell apart in a hurry, but the problems in Gainesville clearly extended beyond Mullen, who still went 34-15 with the Gators and finished in the AP top 15 three times. Mullen's overall record of 109-61 is very impressive, and with the exception of Florida, he hasn't played at any better-resourced program. He may not be an avid recruiter, but he is an excellent defender and has the big-game wins that Penn State lacked under Franklin. Although the majority of Mullen's career was spent at two SEC schools, Florida State and Mississippi State, he was born in Pennsylvania and played his college career at Ursinus College. Mullen, 53, may want to move closer to the northeast. — Rittenberg
Five important players to keep
FROM Chaz Coleman: The true freshman has made a huge impression since arriving on campus and would be extremely desirable if he were to explore the possibility of transferring. Coleman was an ESPN 300 rookie as a 6-foot-4, 220-pound athlete who also played quarterback in high school. He's already weighed up to 246 pounds in his first year in the program and has shown plenty of potential with 11 pressures in his first five games, three tackles for loss and a strip sack against FIU that he returned for 39 yards.
LB Tony Rojas: We find out just how valuable Rojas is to a Nittany Lions defense that has struggled to stop the run without him. Rojas, a 20-game starter, suffered an unspecified long-term injury in practice days after the loss to Oregon and it is unclear when he will return. The 6-foot-2, 230-pound junior was tied for the team lead with a 4.5 mark at the time of the fall and will have two more seasons of eligibility if he is required to take a medical redshirt in 2025.
PR Anthony Donko: If we assume Olaiwawega John After this season, Donko will turn pro, and next year, Donko will become Penn State's most accomplished lineman. The 6-foot-5, 323-pound redshirt sophomore started 10 games at right tackle last year, earning honorable mention All-Ten honors before suffering a season-ending knee injury in November. He started the first four games this season at right back. Donko has two more seasons left and should be a leader on this offensive line next year.
KB AJ Harris: Harris transferred from Georgia in 2024 and immediately proved he was ready to be a difference-maker as a sophomore, earning 15 starts and finishing with 48 tackles, one interception, five pass breakups and the seventh-best defensive rating among Big Ten starting corners, according to Pro Football Focus. If Harris stays in school until his senior season, he could compete for All-Big Ten honors. True freshman guard Darius Dixon also looks like a future star and will be another important cover to hold on to.
Luke Reynolds: Tyler Warren is emerging as one of the best tight ends in the NFL as a rookie, and now Reynolds must replace him as Penn State's next great tight end. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound sophomore earned four starts in his rookie season and ranks fifth among Big Ten tight ends with 197 receiving yards on 18 catches this fall. He will be a key target for inexperienced Penn State QBs who retire this year and will have two more seasons of eligibility. — Max Olson
Three key recruits
WR Davion BrownNo. 71 in ESPN 300: Not since the 2022 recruiting class, the same cycle the Nittany Lions acquired a quarterback. I drew everything — Penn State signed a receiver as highly rated as Brown. That's one reason Franklin and his staff had to hit the transfer portal so hard to surround Allard with pass-catching talent ahead of the 2025 season. A productive 6-foot-2, 200-pound wide receiver from Richmond, Virginia, Brown has been Penn State's top 2026 player since May, when he chose the program over a slew of ACC, Big Ten and SEC offers. That could soon change if promises start pouring in from the Nittany Lions class.
FROM Kevin BrownNo. 80 in ESPN 300: Brown, ESPN's No. 2 prospect out of Penn State this cycle, is the type of offensive talent that Penn State has struggled to land at times as it strives to compete at the top of the Big Ten in recent years. That's what made Brown such an important part of Franklin's latest recruiting class as one of the first members of the Nittany Lions' cycle. Brown, from Harrisburg, Pa., has visited Penn State more than a dozen times, but with offensive talent at a premium at this point, home games can only help in keeping the 6-foot-5, 245-pound blocker committed to the Nittany Lions.
RB Messiah MickensNo. 135 in ESPN 300: Mickens is Brown's teammate at Harrisburg (Pa.) High School and is the most accomplished member of the Nittany Lions' class. Mickens, ranked No. 14 by ESPN in the 2026 class, flirted with a transfer to Notre Dame earlier this year and stopped recruiting in March. Mickens is sidelined with an injury suffered last month. But given the upheaval at Penn State, Notre Dame – with former Nittany Lions running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider on staff – should be one of many programs that will return to Mickens, the 2024 Gatorade Penn State Football Player of the Year. — Eli Lederman
