...
By Anne Erickson
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
On Monday, Dec. 1, the Penn State Nittany Lions continued their search for the football program's next head coach, amid more openings being filled in the college football landscape.
Major college football programs like LSU, Ole Miss, Auburn and Florida all nailed down their new head coaches this past weekend. But Penn State is still searching for a replacement for James Franklin, who was let go from the program early in the 2025 season. Franklin was fired from the program after a 3-3 start to a season, which eventually closed out last weekend at 6-6 after a 40-36 win over Rutgers.
On Monday, however, a top head-coaching candidate emerged in the search to find Penn State's new leader. According to a report from Football Scoop, one frontrunner has "engaged in more and more conversations the past 10 days as the Nittany Lions' search has wound a circuitous route."
Read More on NCAA
...
The coach in discussion is BYU head coach Kalani Sitake. In a piece out on Monday, Football Scoop reports that "a source deeply connected to the Penn State search and with ties at all level of the sport" says the talks between the school and Sitake are "very real."
"Anyone who understands football can turn on the tape and see tremendous schematics in all three phases of the game and players who play with great discipline," the source added. "Like any step up, the question is will he be able to assemble a staff that can recruit to the Northeast."
They continued, "But, as we all know, the bigger the rev-share (revenue-sharing dollars) and NIL, that mitigates the risk to some degree."
There's also the idea that Sitake is also using the talks as leverage for his BYU contract. Football Scoop reports that his salary at BYU has "lagged drastically behind his contemporaries."
More college football: Penn State Coaching Search Faces New Concern After Latest Hires
But their sources insist that the talks are "for real" and going strong.
He's not the only candidate, of course. CBS Sports and Lions247 name Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key as a favorite.
Tyler Donohue of Lions247 notes, "Key is a beloved figure for the program, and you'll find few coaches across the country with deeper roots on their current campus."
More college football: Top Penn State Candidate Eliminated From Coaching Search: Report
He adds, "With all that said, he ranks outside of the Top 50 nationally in 2025 salaries, so Georgia Tech likely must make a major jump in investment if it aims to beat out some circling sharks during this coaching carousel."
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines