Penn State has yet to pay its next head coach, but it has already gotten plenty of head coaches paid. This week, Eli Drinkwitz secured an extension with Missouri and Clark Lea got a new deal from Vanderbilt, taking two more candidates off the board for athletic director Pat Kraft.
So, facing the possibility of hiring a first-time Power 4 head coach, many Penn State fans, and nearly every Penn State player have thrown their endorsement behind interim head coach Terry Smith. While Smith has all the momentum, there are more proven candidates out there, and some of them had a good week.
Let’s jump into the Week 14 head coach candidates, not ranked by most likely to land the job, but by who looks like they would do the best with it.
Off the board with extensions:
- Curt Cignetti, Indiana
- Matt Rhule, Nebraska
- Mike Elko, Texas A&M
- Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri
- Clark Lea, Vanderbilt
Not likely to leave:
- Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame
- Kalen DeBoer, Alabama
Not likely to leave for Penn State:
- Lane Kiffin
Ohio State beat Michigan for the first time since 2019 on Saturday and Hartline seemingly played a huge role. First, the dynamic wide receiver duo that he recruited and developed forced Michigan to live with two high safeties all day. Then, he used multiple tight end sets to run the ball for 186 yards and dominate the game.
Hartline is an elite recruiter, but he’s proven himself as a play-caller this season. If Penn State doesn’t give him a chance to run his own program, some other program will, and likely this offseason.
The Sun Belt isn’t getting any love from the CFP committee, so James Madison won’t be making a CFP run this season. That doesn’t make Chesney’s two-year tenure in Harrisonburg any less impressive, though. A 59-10 win over Coastal Carolina in Week 14 secures an 11-1 record in 2025 and a 20-5 record since Chesney made the jump from FCS Holy Cross.
Iowa State’s 20-13 win over a lifeless Oklahoma State team on Saturday shouldn’t inspire an overwhelming amount of confidence in Campbell’s candidacy, but it got the Cyclones to eight wins for the fifth time in Campbell’s tenure. That’s far from a given in Ames, and if he ever gets a chance to coach at a program with more resources, Campbell may build a real contender.
It wasn’t the eight-overtime thriller that Georgia and Georgia Tech played last season, but the Yellow Jackets hung around with the Bulldogs at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Georgia Tech’s defense fell apart down the stretch, and it cost Key’s team a spot in the ACC Title game, but if he brings offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner with him, Key would still be an enticing candidate.
Penn State clawed its way back to bowl eligibility with a 40-36 win over Rutgers in Week 14. The win was sealed by an analytically correct fourth down decision by Terry Smith, but the performance may take a bit of the juice out of Smith’s push for the full-time job. Rutgers had Penn State on the ropes before Amare Campbell recovered a fourth-quarter fumble and returned it for a touchdown.