When Penn State fired James Franklin just 6 games into the season, it sent a massive statement. Pat Kraft and Penn State's administration felt as if they were better than the results Franklin was giving them which is bold given he was less than a year removed from taking Penn State to the College Football Playoff semifinal.
Firing James Franklin turned the fanbase's attention instantly to where the Nittany Lions may look next in the coaching carousel. By firing Franklin, the entire fanbase expected that the job would quickly be filled by one of the biggest names in the sport.
Instead, we're on Day 52 of Penn State's search for a head coach, and the entire process has been an absolute disaster. With each day that passes it's becoming clearer that this entire process was botched, and at this point you have to wonder where Penn State even turns.
Penn State has been totally humbled by the coaching carousel
When Penn State fired James Franklin, it appeared to be clear that there were two rumored top candidates they'd love to land. Curt Cignetti quickly signed an extension with Indiana, ending the biggest dream for the Nittany Lions.
The real candidate everyone expected Penn State to hire was Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule. As a player, Matt Rhule played at Penn State under Joe Paterno, and he was the head coach at Temple when Pat Kraft was the Athletic Director there. The issue is that Matt Rhule like Curt Cignetti signed an extension with his current program.
As the season began to draw to a close, Penn State fans started to become antsy about who would be their next head coach. This all came at a time when James Franklin took the Virginia Tech job and started dismantling Penn State's class.
On Monday, it looked like Penn State may finally land their head coach as it made a serious push for BYU's Kalani Sitake.
Here's the @espn story on Kalani Sitake emerging as the focus of Penn State's coaching search. https://t.co/kaTshgQz2g
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 2, 2025
The only issue for Penn State is that while they view themselves as a much better program than BYU, but it didn't work for them. While Penn State made a significant push for Kalani Sitake, BYU rose to the challenge, beating out Penn State's offer to keep their head coach.
Sources tell @On3sports that BYU's Kalani Sitake is staying in Provo. Had emerged as a top target in Penn State's coaching search.
— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos) December 2, 2025
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
Penn State has now missed on another top candidate, and at this point it's apparent to the general public that they've now failed on several plans and whoever ends up accepting the job will be far from Pat Kraft's first chouce.
While Penn State goes looking for its next head coach, many in and around the program have rallied for Interim Head Coach Terry Smith to get the job. At this point, it almost may be better for Penn State to make the internal hire and wait until next year to make a bigger decision.
Any hire Penn State makes at this point will be out of pure desperation, and considering they're expecting to put together better results than they achieved under Franklin, it's going to be hard for any coach to reach that point.
The Early Signing Period kicked off on Wednesday, and with Penn State missing another key milestone, it's impossible to call this anything except for an epic failure that will effect both the short and long term future of the program.