James Franklin is out as the top coach of Massive Ten Convention member Penn State after a three-game shedding streak dropped the Nittany Lions to a disappointing 3-3 total within the 2025 marketing campaign.
The group’s affiliate head coach, Terry Smith, will function Penn State’s interim head coach for the remainder of the 2025 season. In addition to Smith, listed here are different candidates that the Nittany Lions’ brass ought to take into account to exchange Franklin.
Rhule performed linebacker at Penn State. He is additionally associates with Nittany Lions athletics director Pat Kraft. Rhule circled Temple and Baylor, and he is 5–1 within the present marketing campaign whereas main Nebraska, one other Massive Ten group.
In his 10 seasons with the Cyclones of the Massive 12 Convention, Campbell is 69–53 total. He additionally went 35–15 at Toledo. Campbell has received 5 bowl video games between these two colleges. He additionally performed one season of school soccer at Pittsburgh and grew up in Ohio.
Indiana HC Curt Cignetti
Cignetti and Rhule may very well be the highest two candidates on the Penn State board. Cignetti guided Indiana to the 12-team School Soccer Playoff in 2024, and after profitable at Oregon on Saturday, the Hoosiers are 6-0 and No. 3 in each the Related Press and Coaches top-25 polls. Cignetti is 17-2 at Indiana, 136–37 total as a head coach, grew up in Pittsburgh and beforehand served as an assistant coach with the Panthers.
Duke HC Manny Diaz
Diaz was Penn State’s linebackers coach and defensive coordinator from 2022 to 2023, and the Nittany Lions protection was vastly improved below him. At Duke, he’s 13–6 total, though Diaz’s three seasons as Miami’s head coach weren’t nice.
The Yellow Jackets probably do not have wherever close to the monetary assets as Penn State, so the Nittany Lions can be impressed with what Key has finished in Atlanta. Key led the Yellow Jackets to bowl video games in 2023 and 2024. Thus far this season, Georgia Tech is 6–0 and No. 12 within the main top-25 polls.
Brown is incomes quite a lot of excessive reward for this system he is constructing in Central New York. The Orange went 10-3 total in his first season at Syracuse. Though the Orange have dropped two straight to fall to 3-3 in 2025, Syracuse misplaced its beginning quarterback to a season-ending harm just a few weeks again and has a younger roster. Brown is aware of the Northeast hall nicely, as he grew up in Camden, N.J., and served as an assistant at Temple and Rutgers, amongst different colleges.
