I mean, the posts are already out there. Just the same as the ones saying the Phillies are going to sign Kyle Tucker. Neither thing is because there's any real journalism reporting it.
A staff is great, and these days the coach sitting in a player's living room is almost an anachronism. But the head coach job still has very little to do with the skill sets of an offensive coordinator. Kliff Kinsgsbury is more qualified than Brady, despite the lack of any regional or PSU connection.
Stewart Mandel rakes Rhule over the coals pretty good below. But I think his larger point is more important: to replace a coach who was objectively still very successful and had the team just short of playing for a national championship requires some serious resume items. Like, someone who has at least coached in the sport, if not someone who has played for a championship (conference or early round, not the whole thing).
Stew: Has Matt Rhule done enough at Nebraska to justify his front-runner status for the Penn State opening? ā Mitch
Well, letās put it this way. If Rhule had no previous ties to Penn State, and if athletic director Pat Kraft hadnāt hired him at Temple, would a coach whoās lost 18 straight games to Top 25 opponents even show up on the candidate lists for this job?
Of course not. Rhule has made steady progress rebuilding Nebraska, just like he did in his previous two college jobs (Temple and Baylor). But Penn State is not a rebuilding job. The program was in the College Football Playoff semifinals last year. The new coach likely gets a yearās grace, but by Year 2 will be expected to contend for national championships. Rhule, with his 2-23 Top 25 record, has not demonstrated heās any more capable of that than Franklin. Maybe that changes by seasonās end, but so far in Year 3, Nebraska has played two good-but-not-great teams, Cincinnati and Michigan, and gone 1-1.
Of course, the inherent risk of firing a coach who won 70 percent of his games is there arenāt a lot of obvious upgrades out there. National champion coaches Kirby Smart, Dabo Swinney and Ryan Day arenāt going to State College. Nor are Kalen DeBoer, Marcus Freeman or Dan Lanning. If Kraft is truly interested in conducting a real coaching search rather than handing the job to his buddy, he may have to just go by which realistic candidate inspires the most confidence.
Here are a few that give me confidence.
ā¢ Curt Cignetti. For obvious reasons.
ā¢ Iowa Stateās Matt Campbell. He coaches at a school with far less history and fewer resources than Nebraska and no real inherent advantages over Baylor, yet he has a far-more respectable career 15-28 Top 25 record, including a 4-6 record against top-10 teams with the Cyclones ā the same number of top-10 wins as Franklin at Penn State in 15 fewer chances.
ā¢ Tennesseeās Josh Heupel. That guy can coach, man. Tennessee hadnāt been nationally relevant in 15 years before he got there, but the Vols finished in the top 10 two of the past three seasons and could reach a second straight CFP berth. Top 25 record: 12-14 (11-11 at Tennessee). Donāt know if heād be interested, though Iād contend itās easier to make regular CFP appearances at Penn State, playing a top-heavy Big Ten schedule, than at Tennessee.
After that ā¦ itās all risk. Which is not to say Lane Kiffin or Eli Drinkwitz or Jedd Fisch canāt win big there, but nor are any of their resumes more distinguished than the guy theyād be replacing.
