Penn State Football Head Coaching Search: News & Notes (11.30.25)

With the regular season now officially over, this gives us the perfect time to take a look at the happenings on the coaching search front. To his credit, Pat Kraft has kept a lid on this thing from the jump, and even more so now. While Penn State has been a program mentioned for a number of candidates, media and insiders alike have had a tough time nailing down a consensus leading group of coaches for the job. One day, it’s Mike Elko. The next, it’s Eli Drinkwitz. Then it’s “Pat Fitzgerald is interviewing.” Oh, and how about Bob Chesney?

Lots of names for sure, but really very few consistent names that. have been involved over time. Is that a good or a bad thing for Penn State? That remains to be seen. But, good or bad, Kraft has kept this one close to his vest even as we (presumably) hit the final stages of the search.

We’ll run down some news and notes below, and let this be the new “open thread” for discussing the coaching search until a hire is made. Whether that’s a few hours from now a week from now remains to be seen, but hopefully it’s the former because even I am ready to be done with the coaching search.

I suppose here is a good place to start. A week ago this time, Adam Breneman shared that a “big name coach” was involved in the Penn State coaching search and no one had mentioned him.

Josh Pate then went on his show and tossed more gas on the mystery candidate fire by saying:

The reporting on who the candidate could be has been flimsy at best. BYU’s Kalani Sitake has been thrown out. USC’s Lincoln Riley has been tossed around as well. But there really hasn’t been anything concrete on the candidate. I try my best not to include information that feels too rumor mill-y like this one, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention it because the mystery candidate does seem like an important part of the process for Penn State right now.

It’s been no secret that Penn State is after Kalen DeBoer. The question was never about Penn State’s interest in DeBoer though, it was if the Alabama head coach wanted to come back north. Many weeks ago, the scenario was laid out: Alabama misses the CFP for a second consecutive year, DeBoer looks for an exit ramp instead of coaching next season on the hot seat, and Penn State is right there waiting with open arms. Seems nice, right? Well, with the Crimson Tide holding on to beat Auburn 27-20 in the Iron Bowl, the Crimson Tide are now headed to the SEC Championship game to play Georgia (a team they beat on the road this year) and regardless of the outcome are almost assuredly locked into a CFP spot.

It was fun to think about and I commend Kraft for making a run at him, but I think we can all safely assume that KDB is staying in Tuscaloosa for another season.

People say for a relationship to work you need two things: chemistry and timing. Well, the same could be said for hiring a football coach and it appears that UCLA is turning up the heat on Bob Chesney making a decision one way or another.

Chesney, of course, is a name that’s been involved with the Penn State job, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that the PA native would prefer the gig with the Nittany Lions over the job with UCLA. The problem is that Chesney appears to be the far-and-away preferred candidate for the Bruins, while Penn State has him high up but perhaps not at the very top. So does Chesney try to wait out and see if he can land the Penn State job, or does he take the UCLA job and the hefty pay raise that would come with it?

• Eli Drinkwitz signed an extension with Missouri, which officially took him out of consideration for the Penn State job and the open LSU, Florida, and Auburn jobs. Personally, while I think Drink is a good coach, I am glad he will not be *my* football coach because I find him annoying and dislike his face.

• Interim head coach Terry Smith interviewed for the job earlier this week, and while his viability to land the job is probably higher than most of us expected at the start, I would be stunned if he’s the pick.

• Penn State great and current Washington Commanders wide receivers coach Bobby Engram interviewed for the head coaching job. Would expect Terry Smith gets the job before Engram, though I’d love Engram on staff as the WR coach.

• Brent Key, despite inferring he bleeds Georgia Tech gold, hasn’t signed a contract extension yet. Neither has Jeff Brohm, who led the Cardinals to a blow out win over Kentucky to finish the year 8-4. Whether it’s Penn State related or not, I feel like the lack of an extension is notable for both those guys is notable.