After BYU head coach Kalani Sitake heading over to Penn State seemed like it was on the horizon, Sitake shut down rumors on Tuesday.
One day after ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that Sitake was "the focus of Penn State's head coach search," On3's Pete Nakos announced the Cougars' head coach is staying put in Utah. The school is reportedly committing $10 million of BYU's $15 million NIL pot to the football program on top of revenue sharing. Sitake's new contract is expected, per Nakos' report, to be about $9 to $9.5 million per year.
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
It seems that whenever the Nittany Lions' latest top candidate is revealed, the announcement of them about to sign their newest deal is out days later. Sitake now joins Indiana's Curt Cignetti, Nebraska's Matt Rhule, Texas A&M's Mike Elko, Vanderbilt's Clark Lea, and Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz.
So, who's left? Options are clearing out, and since the moment incoming Virginia Tech head coach James Franklin was fired, there was no clear No. 1 candidate. At least, there was no top choice known to the public. If Penn State had a plan when firing Franklin, that ship has long sailed.
One candidate will always remain on the board, though: interim head coach Terry Smith.
BYU head coach Kalani Sitake turns his back on Penn State, and the Nittany Lions might be forced to keep Terry Smith
Smith is far from the ideal head coach athletic director Pat Kraft had in mind. While he bleeds blue and white and always deserved a spot on the staff following the 2025 season, Smith proved since taking over as interim that the Nittany Lions will likely fight for non-playoff bowl eligibility for seasons to come under his leadership. That's the direction the 2025 season had to take, and Smith got his team there, but that's not where Kraft wants the program going in the future.
Those coaches that can accomplish that and rebuild Penn State, though, aren't available. It's too far down the line to take huge swings at unlikely names too, if Kraft didn't done so already.
If Kraft is avoiding hiring Smith, that's going to become extremely obvious the longer the coaching search goes on for. It's already relatively clear that he wants someone better, but he doesn't have anyone left to choose from.
The Nittany Lions have one move left, and that's hiring Smith full-time.
Ideally in hiring Smith, Penn State retains a number of players currently on the roster who have eligibility remaining. Players already rallied behind Smith after beating Nebraska in Week 13, and did so again after beating Rutgers. If Smith stays where he is, he has at least some sort of foundation to start rebuilding the team.
The Nittany Lions already may have made a huge mistake moving on from Franklin, and letting him finish out the season would at least give Kraft an idea of if firing Franklin is logical. But that's not the case, and if Kraft doesn't play it safe now, he's going to have an even bigger mess to clean up. Hiring Smith seems like the only direction Penn State can go to salvage as much as possible.