Penn State Football interim head coach Terry Smith has inserted himself into the coaching search after stabilizing the program. (Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images)
Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft’s search for next head coach could be coming down to the final days. With the regular season ending for teams this weekend, coaches will now have the opportunity to announce their intentions to leave their current programs and coach elsewhere next season.
However, the trend of the Nittany Lions‘ (and other top job opening) head coaching targets signing extensions at their current schools continued during Thanksgiving week, as two more potential candidates signed extensions Thursday and Friday.
Extension Season Continues for Penn State’s Top Targets in Ongoing Coaching Search
Eli Drinkwitz, Clark Lea Sign 6-Year Deals
On Thursday, Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz, long the betting favorite to land at Penn State next season per online betting site Kalshi, signed his extension to stay at Missouri.
The new six-year contract for Drinkwitz includes a raise in his annual salary to an average of $10.7 million per season, and a significant raise to staff salaries and resources for the Tigers’ program through 2031.
While Drinkwitz was long seen as the betting favorite on the online betting site Kalshi, insiders have suggested that Drinkwitz was not seen as the top candidate for either the Penn State job or the Florida or LSU openings, but rather a top three to five candidate for each position.
On Friday, Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea also signed a six-year extension to stay with the Commodores through the 2031 season.
Lea is only 25-35 overall since taking over at Vanderbilt in 2021, however his 16-8 record over the past two years is a significant improvement over his first three seasons.
Under Lea, the Commodores reached the number nine ranking in the AP top 25 poll, the highest ranking for the program since 1937.
Lea reportedly interviewed for the Florida head coach opening and was seen as a potential candidate at Penn State, especially because of the connection with Penn State pulling James Franklin from Vanderbilt 12 years ago.
As of Friday morning, the contract details for Lea’s extension was not reported.
The Nittany Lions Hot Board Keeps Shrinking
With two more potential candidates seemingly coming off the board and signing extensions to stay with their current programs, the potential list of candidates for Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft continues to shrink.
So far in the coaching cycle, in addition to Lea and Drinkwitz, potential Penn State candidates Nebraska’s Matt Rhule, Indiana’s Curt Cignetti, and Texas A&M’s Mike Elko have also signed extensions this season.
In addition to those names, it has been reported that Louisville’s Jeff Brohm and Georgia Tech’s Brent Key are working toward extensions, but those extensions have not been signed as of Friday.
With each new extension, Kraft’s list continues to become shorter.
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Multiple Power-Four Coaches Lock Down New Contracts
The extensions not only pull candidates off of Pat Kraft’s board, but each extension has also increased the market value for a major coaching candidate, potentially increasing the amount that Pat Kraft will need to pay Penn State’s next head coach.
In 2025, former Penn State head coach James Franklin was approximately $8.5 million.
Most of the extensions this season have increased salaries for top coaches to over $10 million, with Cignetti ($11.6 million average) and Rhule ($11.7 million average) setting the high end of the market so far this cycle.
If Pat Kraft is looking to poach a current head coach at the power four level, Penn State will likely need to match or exceed these extensions to make a competitive offer.
Penn State and Pat Kraft have kept a very tight lip on the coaching search, but with the extensions and the regular season ending this weekend, Penn State fans could see a resolution to the coaching search sooner rather than later.
Penn State Coaching Search Hot Board Narrows: Who’s Still in the Running After Major Extensions?
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