Penn State fires James Franklin: Top candidates, transfers and recruits

Less than a period ago, Penn State had morganatic nationalist title aspirations. Now, the schoolhouse is looking for a caller manager aft firing James Franklin connected Sunday.

Franklin's autumn was stunning, swift and historic, opening with a type of nonaccomplishment (Oregon) that has travel to specify his Penn State tenure, and continuing with 2 different losses (against large underdogs UCLA and Northwestern) that person not. A season-ending injury to starting backmost Drew Allar against Northwestern added adjacent much anguish to an atrocious day successful Happy Valley.

Just similar that, Franklin's tenure of 11-plus years astatine Penn State is over, wrong the aforesaid calendar twelvemonth arsenic Penn State reached the cusp of the nationalist title game, lone to autumn successful overtime to Notre Dame successful a CFP semifinal. Penn State entered this play with a championship-or-bust mission, and boy, did things spell bust. Although things fell isolated rapidly for Franklin, it besides became harder to envision a way forward, contempt his galore successes astatine Penn State.

Where does PSU spell from here? The schoolhouse has made important investments successful facilities, NIL and different areas. Athletics manager Patrick Kraft is simply a shot feline who wants to triumph astatine the highest level. Penn State has entree to endowment successful the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, and tin vie for large goals connected a regular basis. The squad tin purpose precocious with candidates, including from wrong the Big Ten, and surely people those with a way grounds of winning the biggest games.

Here are respective candidates Penn State could pursue, arsenic good arsenic the roster and recruiting concern amid a coaching transition. -- Adam Rittenberg

Candidates | Transfers | Recruits

Five candidates for the job

Nebraska manager Matt Rhule: The acceptable origin with Rhule astatine Penn State is disconnected the charts. Rhule walked connected for the Nittany Lions and played linebacker, and helium besides worked nether Kraft astatine Temple, wherever helium was caput manager from 2013 to 2016. The 2 stay highly close, though that relationship -- and preserving it -- mightiness extremity up reducing the chances of a reunion. Then again, however galore coach-AD combinations who cognize each different this good get a accidental to nexus up again and pursuit a nationalist championship? Rhule has won astatine his erstwhile assemblage stops, Baylor and Temple, and has Nebraska positioned for a Year 3 breakthrough astatine 5-1. He's a erstwhile NFL manager who present has immoderate Big Ten acquisition and wouldn't shy distant from the magnitude of the job. Rhule, 50, besides likes his gig astatine Nebraska and has lifted the programme retired of an extended slump. But tin helium triumph a nationalist rubric there? He surely tin astatine his alma mater.

Indiana manager Curt Cignetti: Arguably, nary determination would shingle up the Big Ten much than Coach Cig to Penn State. He doesn't person the narration with Kraft that Rhule does, and he's much connected to Penn State's determination rivals successful Pitt (assistant from 1993 to 1999) and West Virginia, wherever helium played backmost and wherever his begetter Frank coached. But Cignetti has won bigger than anyone could person imagined astatine historical bottom-feeder Indiana, wherever Kraft played football. Cignetti wins and wins big, including astatine his archetypal caput coaching stop, Indiana University-Pennsylvania, wherever helium went 53-17 with 3 Division II playoff appearances. Cignetti, 64, could thrust retired the remainder of his vocation astatine Indiana, but if helium makes ...