The hunt for a Penn State football head coach is on. Names across the country are being thrown into the pool of potential candidates. Of those possibilities is current Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea.
Lea is in his fifth season with the Commodores, one that's on the trajectory to make program history. For the first time since the Commodores' James Franklin era, he put Vanderbilt back on the map. It posted its first winning season since Franklin under Lea in 2024.
Now, the Commodores are on the right path to logging their first double-digit win season in school history after starting the season 5-0. They are currently 6-1 with their only loss coming on Oct. 4 against Alabama, 30-14. On Saturday, they bounced back from the loss and beat LSU, 31-24. This win placed Vanderbilt in the AP Top 25 Poll top 10 for the first time since 1947. It moved up seven spots from Week 8, ranking 10th in the country.
The Commodores turned into a bowl-eligible team and are a serious contender to play in the SEC Championship Game. This level of success surpasses what the former Penn State head coach accomplished when he led Vanderbilt over three years. Franklin's biggest success was recording two consecutive winning seasons, going 9-4 in both.
After turning the Commodores into a winning team, there was nothing but potential for what he could do with the Nittany Lions' resources. Franklin just had a ceiling as a head coach in Happy Valley.
What Penn State needs is an upgrade from Franklin. Though Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule is a trendy topic, Rhule has yet to prove he can turn heads towards a team he rebuilt. Hiring what could just be another Franklin is a big risk.
With Lea, though, his ceiling seems a lot higher than Franklin's. Already at Vanderbilt, he exceeded what Franklin accomplished. That's what the Nittany Lions need: someone who can succeed beyond Franklin's peak.
The question is if Lea is interested in leaving his alma mater. Not only did he attend Vanderbilt, but he grew up in Nashville. There are a lot of ties anchoring him with the Commodores. On top of that personal attachment, Vanderbilt also put more money into its football program. With the latest House v. NCAA settlement as well, things are leveling out more across top teams in the country in regards to NIL.
That doesn't mean Penn State won't take a swing at poaching Lea. The Nittany Lions need a home run hire and if that means targeting yet another Vanderbilt coach, they'll do it.
In terms of resources, Lea will have a lot to work with at Penn State. What he'll have to continue dealing with leading the Commodores is being in competition with powerhouses in the SEC. Even though he turned the program around doesn't suddenly mean top prospects ignore Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss, or Texas A&M.
Like Franklin, Lea has an opportunity to use the Nittany Lions' resources and redefine what it means to play for Penn State. The broken pieces from 2025 are temporary. Moving past the season, it's out with the old and in with the new, and that's not just at the head coach position.
If Lea's tempted by the potential of what he could accomplish at Penn State, the Nittany Lions might be in for another post-Vanderbilt coaching era.