Penn State is paying coaches, but not how the Nittany Lions anticipated

Through Penn State football's head coach search, a number of candidates were crossed off the list due to signing contract extensions with their current teams.

Now with BYU head coach Kalani Sitake joining that group, the Nittany Lions' helped coaches get paid roughly $370.8 million in extension money, according to On3's Thomas Frank Carr.

Penn State head coach hunt benefits all candidates as their current programs prove that money talks

This list kicked off with Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti. Cignetti emerged as one of the primary targets immediately following the firing of incoming Virginia Tech head coach James Franklin. Days after the firing, Cignetti signed a massive extension worth $92.8 million spanning eight years. The Hoosiers' head coach will earn nearly $11.6 million per year under the new deal.

Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule followed. While Penn State hiring Rhule was controversial because of his similarities to Franklin in terms of failure to meet high expectations, the Nittany Lions didn't have to worry about that scenario for much longer. The Cornhuskers extended Rhule for two more seasons, adding $25 million to his contract as a result.

Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko was next. The possibility of Elko shifting gears and joining the Big Ten in Happy Valley wasn't very high. However, he had the resume against ranked opponents that Penn State wants. The Aggies inked a deal with Elko, extending him six years for $66 million.

After a brief drought of contract extension news, Missouri and Vanderbilt punched the Nittany Lions in the gut as the SEC teams ripped promising candidates out of their hands.

The Tigers and Eli Drinkwitz agreed to a deal that bumps Drinkwitz's salary to over $10.7 million per year. Lea also signed a new six-year extension keeping him with the Commodores through 2029. His annual salary increased to $3.7 million.

With Drinkwitz and Lea off the board, Penn State started getting desperate and creative. This led to the sudden emergence of Sitake as a candidate, which ultimately blew up in its face.

BYU offered Sitake $9 to $9.5 million per year, and if that deal spans a six-year term, Sitake is making roughly $54 million over that time.

Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key also signed an extension. The $32.5 million, five-year deal was announced soon after Sitake denied the Nittany Lions.

Penn State needs to be wise with how much money it throws at its next head coach

While it may be tempting for Penn State to try and push back against these contract extentions, putting up impressive and competitive offers, it shouldn't. The Nittany Lions have a lot of areas to fix. Getting a head coach hired is obviously a priority, but they also need to think about recruitment and roster building.

Especially with the lack of impressive candidates worth that amount of money, Penn State needs to ground itself and think what is best in the long-term. The Early Signing Period proved it can still corral four-star recruits, even without a head coach. Rounding out a roster and salvaging whatever is left in terms of recruitment can't get pushed aside for the sake of just getting anyone hired. The time passed for the Nittany Lions to try and compete salary-wise.