Penn State Football Swing-o-meter: What Taking a Big Swing Actually Means for Coaching Search
Since James Franklin’s firing Sunday, it has been reported by many sources that Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft will take a “big swing” to find Franklin’s replacement for Penn State Football.
But, what does swinging big look like for Penn State?
Could the swing be to float big names to gain interest in the job? How realistic is it for Penn State to land one of its top targets in the coaching search?
The swing-o-meter is here to break down seven names and how likely they are to have interest in taking their talents to Happy Valley.
Inside Penn State Football’s Potential ‘Big Swings’ in Coaching Search
Nick Saban
Swing-O-Meter: MASSIVE
Interest: No Chance
The legendary Nick Saban is obviously worth a call from any athletic director in the country with an opening in 2025, especially Pat Kraft with a coaching position as intriguing as Penn State’s.
However, I don’t see Saban leaving retirement for any coaching job in the future so this call is more a formality than a shot at finding the next Penn State head coach.
Saban seems happy doing media on College Gameday and has spoken about his wife having no interest in rumors of Saban returning to coaching.
Urban Meyer, Fox Sports Analyst
Swing-O-Meter: 9/10
Interest: Real chance
Once upon a time, Urban Meyer was rumored to be Joe Paterno’s replacement in Happy Valley.
A decade and a half later, Meyer will get another call to take over the Nittany Lions program. While Meyer has not coached in college football since 2018 and has not coached at all since 2021, Penn State’s job should be intriguing enough to bring Meyer out of retirement if he still has any itch to coach.
Taking the Penn State job would give Meyer the ability to win right away in a major conference that he is familiar with (B1G) and give him a legitimate shot at doing something no other coach in the history of college football has ever done, win a national championship at three different schools.
Meyer’s name pops up every offseason with every big head coaching vacancy, but Penn State’s opening may finally be good enough to entice Meyer out of retirement.
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Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame head coach
Swing-O-Meter: 8/10
Interest: 2/10
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has a good thing going in South Bend, where he took the Fighting Irish to the national title game last season. Freeman culturally fits Notre Dame’s program to a T, where he converted to Catholicism after becoming the head coach.
Outside of his alma mater (Ohio State) calling, I can’t see Freeman leaving South Bend for another head coaching job.
Matt Rhule, Nebraska head coach
Swing-O-Meter: 4/10
Interest: Real
Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule would probably register as a bigger swing on the swing-o-meter without his relationship with Pat Kraft.
Rhule has turned three programs, Temple, Baylor, and Nebraska, around in his career (albeit without ever staying long enough to put any of them over the top).
As a former Penn State letterman from the Paterno era who self-admittedly “loves” Penn State, Rhule’s interest should be seen as real for the coaching vacancy.
There are plenty of bigger names that Kraft will go after before Rhule, but if the search comes down to Rhule, there is a legitimate shot at Penn State drawing Rhule away from the Cornhuskers.
For now, Rhule will use the Penn State job as leverage to force Nebraska to commit more resources to the Cornhusker’s football program, but by the end of the search, if Pat Kraft wants Rhule in Happy Valley, I think it would be hard to Rhule that out.
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Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss head coach
Swing-O-Meter: 8/10
Interest: Leverage
Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin is another name that has drawn plenty of interest in recent coaching cycles. At Ole Miss, Kiffin has produced a .735 winning percentage over six seasons, the best stretch of his career.
With the Rebels in the top five at this point in the 2025 season, Kiffin’s name will continue to heat up for major coaching vacancies this offseason.
However, I can’t see Kiffin wanting to head to the Big Ten or Penn State this offseason. Kiffin’s agent will surely take Pat Kraft’s calls to use as leverage at Ole Miss and potentially Florida or Auburn if the jobs open, but I don’t see Kiffin as a serious candidate for Penn State until proven otherwise.
Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri head coach
Swing-O-Meter: 6/10
Interest: Possible
Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz is an intriguing candidate for many Penn State fans.
At Mizzou, Drinkwitz has been successful building the Tigers into a double-digit winner in the SEC. For the past two and a half seasons, Drinkwitz has an overall record of 26-6 with the Tigers and has finished ranked twice (including a top-10 finish in 2023). Drinkwitz also presents Penn State with a return for former Nittany Lions quarterback Beau Pribula (and Penn State target Matt Zollers).
This week, Drinkwitz slammed the media for the distraction that coaching searches present to programs, but also did not directly say that he had no interest in the Penn State job. Drinkwitz stated, “there’s no such thing as journalistic integrity on social media. There’s just wild, outlandish reporting and anybody’s name — I’ll bet every sitting head coach has been listed as a candidate for some job so far.”
There are names ahead of Drinkwitz on Pat Kraft’s hot board, but Drinkwitz is an intriguing candidate that could have real interest in the Nittany Lions coaching search once the Tiger’s regular season ends.
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