1. If there’s one thing about me, it’s that I *LOVE* a coaching search. The rumors, the searching of coaches, the flight trackers — it’s what makes college sports great.
2. People forget I connected the
dots on Mike Rhoades probably being the hire for Penn State.
3. The most important thing during all of this: patience. I know that’s not usual for most coaching searches where they typically wrap up in a week or two, but Penn State is not making a hire until end of November at the earliest.
4. I said this at some point on the BSD YouTube Show (please subscribe!) but you can put yourself in a coma for a month, wake up like November 18 and probably not miss anything truly important.
5. Speaking of the hiring timeline, I expounded on that in the “News & Notes” post from Monday. The tldr; version — Penn State probably can’t hire a current head coach that makes the College Football Playoff because you want to give the incoming coach all of December to re-recruit the roster so the guys you want don’t enter the portal.
6. Because of that, the dreams of Kalen DeBoer leaving Alabama or Mike Elko leaving Texas A&M are just that: dreams. Both programs are heavy favorites to make the playoffs, so even if they deeply wanted come to Happy Valley because Jesus Chris visited them in a dream as a Penn State fan telling them “WE ARE!”…the timing just wouldn’t work out.
7. I will still troll Texas A&M fans on Twitter and root hard for LSU, Mizzou, and Texas to pull the upsets and beat the Aggies. But if the expectation is to take a sitting head coach from Alabama or Texas A&M, please, readjust your expectations.
8. Speaking of, I’ve seen a lot of “(insert random coach here) isn’t an upgrade over James Franklin” when talking about different candidates. It’s fine to think someone isn’t a better coach thank Franklin — he accomplished a ton and has a strong resume — but there is a difference between “better coach” and “better resume.” The latter involves specific opportunity, which not all coaches have had.
9. Think back like five years. Mike Elko was the defensive coordinator at Texas A&M. Kalen DeBoer was in his first season as the head coach at Fresno State. Marcus Freeman was the DC at an AAC school. Curt Cignetti was an FCS coach.
10. I don’t mention those names to say they are all definitively better coaches than Franklin, but to point out that the next great head coaches are out there. They might be coordinators, they might be at G5 schools, perhaps they are assistants in the NFL. But, I promise you, there will be a coach hired this cycle or next that will be looked at as an “upgrade” over Franklin, even if that’s not obvious to us right now. It’s just Pat Kraft’s job to find that candidate.
11. I released my personal top five candidates on Twitter last night.
12. Changes from the last version include swapping Curt Cignetti for Eli Drinkwitz, swapping the placement of Jeff Brohm and Kenny Dillingham, and taking out Oregon OC Will Stein for Buffalo Bills OC Joe Brady.
13. Brady seems realistic enough if you believe Tyler Donohue of Lions247. He’s mentioned him — and his connection to The Final Boss of donors, Terry Pegula — on his podcast and on Landon Tengwall’s show.
14. Brady’s bounced back from a rough stint as the Carolina Panthers OC to do some nice work with Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. Brady even interviewed for a few NFL head gigs last winter, which shows some level of competence.
15. My questions about Brady would be what it would be for anyone who hasn’t been in the college game since the NIL era has taken off: what is your plan? Recruiting, roster construction, fundraising, culture, etc. Like it or not, the roots of any college program will be how one handles the beast of NIL.
16. Drinkwitz really doesn’t have too many negatives. He’s recruiting at a level Mizzou never had before. He’s won with offense. He’s won with defense. He’s proactive with NIL and utilizing the portal. To me, he feels like a high floor, high ceiling type guy.
17. I just don’t like his face or his personality. I’m down for some weirdness and being an a-hole, but there’s just something about him that irks me.
18. I have no new information to report on Jeff Brohm other than this is the guy I want to lead the Penn State football program.
19. Let’s discuss Brian Hartline, the OC and WR coach at Ohio State.
20. There’s questions, rightfully so, about how much of Hartline’s success is due to Ryan Day’s offense. I think it’s right to ask that question why also giving Hartline his flowers as an elite recruiter and developer of wide receivers.
21. “But Pat, he’s at Ohio State, it recruits itself.” Sure, to a certain extent you are right. But since Hartline took over as WR coach in 2018, he has the Buckeyes wideouts at another level when it comes to recruiting and developing.
22. From 2012-2018, Ohio State signed 0 five-star receivers according to 247Sports. Since the 2019 class, that number is seven.
23. From 2008-2021, no Ohio State wideout was taken in the first round of the NFL Draft. Since then, Buckeyes have had five wide receivers drafted in the first, with Carnell Tate likely join in 2026 and Jeremiah Smith a lock to do so in 2027.
24. So a legitimate recruiting uptick since Hartline took over, yup! A legitimate development uptick as well, yup! I don’t are *what* school you do that at. It’s extremely impressive.
25. Would I love if Hartline had more ownership of the offense as the OC? Absolutely. It’s why he isn’t a 10/10. But he’s been OC or co-OC for three seasons, is calling plays this year, and has spent almost a decade at one of the three best college football programs in the nation. His resume isn’t perfect, but I’d be super excited at what Hartline could do at Penn State.
26. The interview process will be big for him though. It’s something that we as fans won’t get to see/know about, but it’s a major part of who Kraft will decide on. Hartline’s interviewed at Cincy and West Virginia in the past, so we’ll see if he has better success at Penn State.
27. I’ve cooled on Dillingham. After researching more, he hasn’t recruited all that well which makes me nervous he just hit the jackpot on some transfer portal guys (Sam Leavitt, Cam Skattebo, Jordan Tyson, etc.) that isn’t as translatable year-to-year. Like I think Penn State should be more aggressive when it comes to the portal, but I don’t think it should be the hallmark of the program like it is for Dillingham and Arizona State.
28. Like, my guy, you can’t be right around Todd Graham and Herm Edwards level when it comes to recruiting.
29. I also think he might just be a little too immature for one of the elite jobs in the sport. I would like a coach with a fun personality, but Dillingham loses it a bit more than I’d like.
30. It’s going to be a fun couple of weeks though. Coaching searches should be fun because they are filled with hope. But, man, this is all fluid. I love Jeff Brohm, but if the Cardinals somehow drop 2-of-3 to Boston College, Virginia Tech, and Cal that will change things. That goes for every suspected candidate the next few weeks.
