Penn State Coaching Hot Board: 5 Head Coaches Rising and 3 Falling in Pat Kraft’s Search to Replace James Franklin
Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft is now on week two of the coaching search for Penn State Football’s next head coach.
While the Nittany Lions may realistically be waiting until the end of the regular season to find out who will be the next head coach, a few games this past weekend could have moved candidates up and down on Penn State’s coaching hot board.
In part one of this hot board, we will focus on five current head coaches that could be moving up the board for Penn State, and three coaches that may have removed themselves from the list this weekend.
Penn state hot board targets: Rising Candidates
Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri head coach
Missouri head coach and former Penn State quarterback Beau Pribula prevailed in a thrilling game in double overtime against Auburn this weekend.
Drinkwitz provides plenty of energy and an exciting offense that would translate well to Happy Valley. Under Drinkwitz, Missouri has recruited well, especially in the state of Pennsylvania where the Tigers were able to get a commitment from Penn State quarterback target Matt Zollers, and thrived in the transfer portal.
Pat Kraft would need to show Drinkwitz Penn State’s serious commitment to “elite resources,” as Kraft put it, to convince him to leave Missouri.
Clark Lea, Vanderbilt head coach
If Penn State once again raids Vanderbilt for a head coach, will the Commodores rename the head coaching position the “Penn State coach in waiting”?
Like James Franklin did during his time at Vanderbilt, Clark Lea has reinvigorated the Commodores program and has them winning big, ranked games.
This weekend, Lea and the Commodores knocked off number 20 LSU and are ranked inside the top 10 (the Commodores highest ranking since 1947).
Although Lea is coaching at his alma mater, with Vanderbilt’s limitations in the SEC, Penn State may be able to convince Lea to leave his alma mater and take advantage of the better resources at Penn State.
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Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State head coach
Another head coach that had a great weekend was Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham.
Arizona State knocked off number 14 Texas Tech at home this weekend, a Tech team that many believed was a frontrunner in the Big 12 this season. Dillingham has been excellent the past season and a half at Arizona State, finishing in the top seven last season and recording a 16-5 record.
Dillingham also earned Big 12 Coach of the Year honors last season for the Sun Devils. Dillingham is another coach that is at his alma mater that may be hard to pry away. However, the allure of better resources in a better conference could sway Dillingham if Kraft calls.
Penn State Football Swing-o-meter: What Taking a Big Swing Actually Means for Coaching Search
Alex Golesh, South Florida head coach
Alex Golesh is a hot name as an up and coming head coach at a smaller school in 2025.
Golesh has the South Florida Bulls humming this season with a 6-1 record and ranked 18th in the nation. With a number of head coaching vacancies that are or may open in Florida, it may be tougher to pry Golesh from the sunshine state than other candidates, but his is certainly a name to keep an eye on in Penn State’s coaching search.
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Brent Key, Georgia Tech head coach
On the flip side of Manny Diaz (below), Georgia Tech’s Brent Key has been having an excellent season for the Yellow Jackets.
Under Key, Georgia Tech is undefeated this season and ranked inside the top 10 in the nation. While Georgia Tech hasn’t faced a tough schedule this season, they secured a win over Dabo Swinney and Clemson and are in control of their ACC title and college football playoff destiny.
One potential issue for Penn State with Key is whether the Nittany Lions would wait for Key if the Yellow Jackets make the college football playoff in December. Timing could be an issue with the 2026 recruiting class and the January transfer portal that Pat Kraft may not want to wait for (should Georgia Tech continue their current trajectory).
Three potential candidates that could have removed themselves from Penn State consideration this weekend:
Matt Rhule, Nebraska head coach
Let’s start off here, with the realization that Matt Rhule is likely never actually off the board for Pat Kraft.
Rhule and Kraft are good friends and also have a working relationship from their time at Temple. If Kraft ultimately decides that the coaching search ends with Rhule, a deal will likely get done.
However, all that being said, Rhule and the Cornhuskers looked terrible in a lopsided loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers this Friday and the performance should have removed him from consideration for Penn State.
Before the game, the Cornhuskers were nine-point favorites and ranked heading into Minnesota. Rhule and the Nebraska offense gave up a record nine sacks to Minnesota on the way to a 24-6 loss where the Cornhuskers managed only 213 yards of total offense and 36 rushing yards.
That kind of performance should eliminate the coach from Pat Kraft’s national search to find a coach capable of taking Penn State to a national championship.
Manny Diaz, Duke head coach
Manny Diaz is an excellent candidate for Penn State’s coaching vacancy.
However, Duke’s loss to Georgia Tech this weekend may have knocked him down the list of potential candidates for Pat Kraft. Diaz’s Blue Devils put up a good fight against the number seven ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, but came up short 27-18 at home to fall to 4-3 on the season.
The question for Diaz is whether Kraft thinks Diaz is capable of recruiting and coaching at a level high enough to win a national championship after his time at Miami came to a rough end.
Nick Saban, ESPN analyst
GOAT Nick Saban is a pipe dream for any coaching search, especially after his retirement from Alabama after the 2023 season. However, after this weekend, Nittany Lions fans can safely cross him off of the wish list.
On College Gameday, Saban’s wife Terry noted that the couple is enjoying retirement even though she believes Nick could come back and win another national championship. Terry noted that, “we’re having too much fun and we don’t want to take away opportunities from our baby coaches.”
However, it’s the exchange between Saban and James Franklin on Gameday that really makes it easy to cross Saban’s name off the list. In Franklin’s first media appearance since his firing at Penn State, Saban called the firing “unfair as hell” for all that Franklin did for the program.
At this point, even if Saban decides at some point to come out of retirement, this last comment makes me believe it would not be for the Nittany Lions.
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- Penn State Coaching Hot Board: 5 Head Coaches Rising and 3 Falling in Pat Kraft’s Search to Replace James Franklin - October 20, 2025
- Penn State Football: Could Terry Smith Make Staff Changes This Week? - October 20, 2025
- Penn State Football Swing-o-meter: What Taking a Big Swing Actually Means for Coaching Search - October 16, 2025
