Penn State football is fully in the danger zone of its coaching search. The Nittany Lions fired James Franklin during the 2025 season and are yet to find a replacement. Many of the top targets in the cycle are off the board, as well, with all six SEC jobs being filled already. UCLA, Virginia Tech, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Oregon State and Colorado State have all also found their guy.
Most recently, reports surfaced that Penn State was targeting BYU head coach Kalani Sitake for the position. However, on Tuesday, On3 reported that Sitake is staying in Provo to coach BYU and will be getting a new deal.
There were also previous rumors that Penn State was making a push for Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel. He came out on Monday night to say he was not a candidate for the job and is focused on what he’s building in Knoxville, as well.
Sources tell @On3sports that BYU’s Kalani Sitake is staying in Provo. Had emerged as a top target in Penn State’s coaching search.
BYU is committing $10 to $15 million of NIL on top of revenue sharing. New deal is currently expected to pay Sitake roughly $9 to $9.5 million… https://t.co/BPhfAG2oS5 pic.twitter.com/2NVwqbo90q
— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos) December 2, 2025
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With so many targets off the board by either taking jobs elsewhere or getting pay days at their current school, Penn State is in danger of completely missing this cycle. The Nittany Lions will certainly hire someone, it just may be someone who is much further down the list than initially anticipated.
For a program that let go of Franklin for not reaching their high expectations, this probably won’t go over well. Franklin went 11-2, 10-3 and 13-3 in the 2022-24 seasons, but a 3-3 start was the final straw in Happy Valley. Now, he’s at Virginia Tech.
So, what does PSU do from here? It’s already missed on names such as Sitake, Heupel, Eli Drinkwitz, Clark Lea, Pat Fitzgerald, Alex Golesh, Kalen DeBoer, Marcus Freeman and Bob Chesney. Remaining targets on popular hot boards are Jeff Brohm of Louisville, Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline and fired Giants head coach Brian Daboll.
