Over the weekend, the Lane Kiffin domino finally fell. Kiffin left his College Football Playoff-bound Ole Miss Rebels to LSU, and with that one move, the coaching carousel kicked into high gear. Florida took Tulane’s Jon Sumrall as a consolation prize; Auburn, which wanted Sumrall, moved on to USF’s Alex Golesh, Arkansas then opted for Memphis head coach Ryan Silverfield, and Ole Miss installed defensive coordinator Pete Golding as its head coach.
On top of that, Michigan State fired Jonathan Smith and is intent on hiring former Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald, Oklahoma State hired North Texas’s Eric Morris, Stanford tapped Tavis Pritchard, and James Franklin is settled in at Virginia Tech. Yet, Penn State is quiet.
The Nittany Lions whiffed on early targets, Curt Cignetti, Matt Rhule, Mike Elko, and long-shot dreams of Alabama running Kalen DeBoer out of town faded away with his Iron Bowl win on Saturday night. Even with the early signing period opening on Wednesday, Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft seems content to wait for the right hire. That could be interim head coach Terry Smith, or BYU’s Kalani Sitake, who is preparing to play in the Big 12 Championship Game on Saturday, but a late addition to the coaching carousel may have his patience running thin.
Kentucky eyes Will Stein and Brian Hartline after firing Mark Stoops
On Sunday, after nearly all the available head coaches were already snapped up, Kentucky decided it was finally time to join the party and fired its longtime head coach, Mark Stoops. With Stoops out and negotiations beginning over his buyout, the SEC bottom-feeder was quick to set its sights on two Big Ten offensive coordinators, Oregon’s Will Stein and Ohio State’s Brian Hartline.
Stein is an elite play-caller and game-planner; Hartline is known for his recruiting acumen and player development. Both are south of 40 years old with no head coaching experience. Yet both would be excellent hires for Kentucky… and for Penn State.
Big game hunting season is over. Cignetti and Elko have signed extensions, Kiffin was never coming to the Big Ten, and Marcus Freeman, Lincoln Riley, and Kalen DeBoer are not and were never leaving.
So, Penn State can settle for Sitake, Georgia Tech’s Brent Key, Louisville’s Jeff Brohm, or Franklin’s former defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, who just led Duke to the ACC Title game with five losses. Or, Kraft can take a swing at an unknown and hope he hits a home run. For a program that spent 12 years with James Franklin banging its head against the ceiling, I’d opt for the latter.
Kirby Smart, Dan Lanning, Marcus Freeman, and so many of the sport’s best coaches were coordinators who thrived as first-time head coaches. Yet, so many athletic directors are afraid to follow that model. Kentucky appears willing to take that chance, but Penn State shouldn’t let it.