Two names immediately emerged as the obvious candidates to replace James Franklin at Penn State: Curt Cignetti and Matt Rhule. Since Franklin’s firing, both have used the opening and athletic director Pat Kraft’s interest to land themselves lucrative extensions to stay put at Indiana and Nebraska, respectively. So, Kraft has been forced to pivot.
While it isn’t certain which direction Kraft will turn, or if he has some kind of ace up his sleeve in the coaching search, one of the most appealing options potentially on the market is Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm. He led Purdue to the Big Ten championship game before returning to his alma mater, which he led to the ACC title game in his first year.
Now, after an upset win over Miami a few weeks ago, he has the Cardinals on the cusp of a conference title and a bid into the 12-team College Football Playoff. Brohm is an innovative offensive mind with a track record as a giant killer, taking down top-five teams in four of his six tries.
The biggest problem is that Brohm, like many of the top candidates in this cycle, is at his alma mater. It’s harder to envision him leaving the school where he played quarterback in the early '90s, but after his recent comments, it’s not impossible.
Jeff Brohm is asked about his name being mentioned in national searches: "We've got good resources here. We've got a good football team. For me, it's concentrating on the season and worrying about the next game, and that's what we're doing."
— Matt McGavic (@Matt_McGavic) November 3, 2025
Jeff Brohm leaves the door open to big-time coaching jobs
In that particular statement from his Monday press conference, it’s more about what he didn’t say. He didn’t say that he’s not leaving Louisville. He didn’t say that he wants to be a Cardinal for life.
Sure, that message could be used as leverage to get more resources to help in high school recruiting and the transfer portal, or to get an extension like Cignetti and Rhule did. But it also may mean that the door is legitimately open, and that’s fantastic news for Penn State.
There has been a prevailing narrative that there aren’t enough qualified coaches for the big-time jobs available in this coaching cycle. That’s true if established Power 4 head coaches are the only candidates that you consider to be qualified. There are plenty of coordinators or Group of Six coaches who would be appealing options.
Still, with the uncertainty of that group of candidates, Brohm’s name has risen to the top with Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz and Ole Miss’s Lane Kiffin. Penn State needs at least one of those three coaches to move, even if it's not to Happy Valley, so the program doesn’t start to regret moving on from Franklin.