The coaching carousel keeps on turning! With the Penn State Nittany Lions moving forward in naming Matt Campbell as their next head coach, that means other candidates who were up for the job could be looking elsewhere. While interim head coach Terry Smith will be retained on Campbell's first Penn State staff, that could mean another head-coaching candidate could end up going to a rival program.
There are rumors circulating that the Ohio State Buckeyes are looking hard at Brain Daboll to be their next offensive coordinator. The former New York Giants head coach is out of a job, but would be a great candidate to replace Brian Hartline at the end of the season. Hartline is leaving his alma mater to take over the South Florida Bulls. He will be replacing Alex Golesh who leads the Auburn Tigers.
Daboll had been one of the many names tied to the Penn State head-coaching vacancy, but never really a serious one. He was nowhere near the level of candidate as Jeff Brohm, Kalen DeBoer, or Kalani Sitake ever were. Penn State still ended up making a fantastic hire in Campbell, although it took a long time to get there... What could be concerning is Campbell is a defensive-minded head coach.
Daboll might have his limitations as a head coach, but he is an outstanding offensive coordinator.
Brian Daboll may end up serving as the next OC for Ohio State Buckeyes
The idea behind Ryan Day hiring Daboll is to continue to have effectively an NFL coaching staff in charge of college players. While Hartline has been only a college guy since retiring from his playing career, his predecessor in Chip Kelly has had multiple jobs in the NFL before. Although he is now available after being let go by the Las Vegas Raiders, there is sentiment that Daboll will be their guy.
Pairing Daboll with defensive coordinator Matt Patricia could prove problematic for teams like Penn State trying to overtake Ohio State in the Big Ten hierarchy. People were highly skeptical of Patricia working out with Ohio State after a lengthy NFL career, but he might win the Frank Broyles Award as the best assistant in the country. His Buckeyes defense has been utterly tremendous all season long.
As far as what this means for Penn State, they may have a bright future, but Ohio State is not going away anytime soon. Penn State will likely get back to its roots of winning with defense and ground-control offense. This is how Iowa State achieved new heights under Campbell with a lackluster history previously and limited resources. Daboll to Ohio State may not change the world, but it might matter.
At this time, Penn State should only worry about what it can control, but may keep close tabs on this.