We’re onto week three. Like last week, use this post as a hub for coaching related news and discussion in the comments below.
LSU Joins The Chaos
There’s another major opening in the college game and this
one is a big background, as LSU made the move to fire Brian Kelly following a blowout loss against Texas A&M. Kelly had a record of 29-11 in three seasons with the Tigers, but a 5-3 start this season — one that began with real title aspirations — was never for LSU to pull the cord on a $50 million buyout. It remains to be seen if Kelly will be on College GameDay this Saturday morning, but it’s not likely since he’s not represented by the same agent Nick Saban is.
LSU is a hell of a job, man. I don’t know if it’s the best job in the SEC, but it has an argument along with Georgia, Alabama, and Texas to be the best job. I mean, the last three head coach of the Tigers — Saban, Les Miles, and Ed Orgeron — have all won national titles during their tenures in Baton Rouge so it’s going to garner some real interest across the sport.
How does that impact Penn State? I don’t think a whole lot, to be honest. Maybe there’s some overlap with someone like Eli Drinkwitz, but I think otherwise Penn State and LSU will have different candidate pools. After the obvious fit issues with Kelly down in the Bayou, I think the Tigers will almost assuredly go with a tried-and-true Southerner.
The most obvious #1 candidate? Current Ole Miss head coach, Lane Kiffin, who also is the #1 target of Florida. So really, Penn State might be in the optimal position. As LSU and Florida fight the next couple weeks over Kiffin, maybe the Nittany Lions can swoop in undetected and make more serious pitches to other coaches?
Is Brian Kelly A Candidate For The Penn State Job?
I’ve seen some people on Twitter bring up Brian Kelly being a candidate for the Penn State job. To that, I have a few things to say:
- No.
- Brian Kelly is an a-hole.
- Use your brain.
- People need to stop being obsessed with getting a coach who has a “better resume” than James Franklin, because that’s how you end up with someone like Brian Kelly who has accomplished a lot but is clearly not the coach he once was.
- Still no.
- I’d hire Al Golden before I hired Brian Kelly, and I’m not kidding.
Kalen DeBoer & Mike Elko Win Again, Almost Assuredly Will Make The CFP
I talked at length last week about how a coach making the CFP will make it real difficult for Penn State to hire them just from a timeline perspective. Two of the coaches with a little bit of smoke have been Kalen DeBoer of Alabama and Mike Elko of Texas A&M. DeBoer was likely looking at an exit plan in case the 2025 regular season didn’t go as plan. Meanwhile, Elko was likely just looking to use Penn State as leverage to become the next college coach to make $10+ million per year.
Well, in either case, I think both can be safely taken off of any realistic lists. Alabama survived a scare from South Carolina, while A&M beat up LSU, and in both cases essentially punched their tickets to the CFP. According to ESPN’s FPI, the Aggies have a 96.4% chance of making the playoff while Alabama is at 92.4%. It would take *historic* collapses for either to miss the CFP.
Brian Hartline In The Mix?
One of the more intriguing names for the job is Ohio State offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Brian Hartline. Joe Smeltzer of Nittany Sports Now reported on Monday that Hartline “is a candidate for the Penn State job.”
I don’t know if that phrasing sounds all that definitive to me. I mean every coach is a candidate in theory, especially for a job that isn’t going to be filled for another four weeks. But, as someone who really likes the idea of Hartline, I do enjoy that his name is garnering a bit more smoke for the job. I dedicated a couple of my “Random Thoughts” to him last week so I won’t repeat myself, but I will say again: lack of head coaching experience doesn’t really bother me. As much as we like to think this whole “hiring a football coach” is an exact science, it isn’t. Here’s what the previous job of every head coach of the current top 15 ranked teams was before taking over: OC, HC, HC, HC, DC, DC, HC, OL, DC, DC, HC, DC, OLB, HC, and OC. So six of the 15 were head coaches elsewhere, while 9 were coordinators or position coaches (Joey McGuire, Texas Tech).
If Pat Kraft doesn’t hire someone like Brian Hartline because he doesn’t think he interviewed well or doesn’t seem ready for the job, that’s one thing. But getting a sitting head coach shouldn’t be a requirement whatsoever.
And, Uh, Matt Rhule
I’m legally obligated to give a Matt Rhule update in a post about Penn State’s open job.
The Cornhuskers bounced back from a 24-6 defeat against Minnesota last week to squeak out a 28-21 win over Northwestern on Saturday. Nebraska scored the game-winning TD with 2:44 remaining. Now, they’ll welcome No. 23 ranked USC to Lincoln for a primetime kick on NBC. When I say Rhule *needs* to win this game, I am dead serious. Like I am lowering the expectations to such low levels for this guy, beating a barely *ranked team at home isn’t asking for a lot.
*Should be noted Nebraska does have a victory over No. 17 Cincinnati, but the Bearcats weren’t ranked when the victory occurred. I understand why we do it, but kind of funny we as a college football community look at “ranked wins” as only when the game happened and take out the context that is the rest of the season.
