After Penn State fired James Franklin as their head coach, the Nittany Lions have promoted Terry Smith into the interim role, but they need a permanent solution, leading to speculations about top football coaches.
On Wednesday’s Colin Cowherd’s show, college football analyst Joel Klatt built a case for several top coaches in college football, whom Penn State can go after now that they have dismissed Franklin. This also includes former Alabama head coach Nick Saban, who is already retired but still becomes part of speculation whenever there is a head coach opening in a top program.
According to Klatt, the first name Penn State athletic director should go for is Saban, who is a legendary college football figure with seven national championships.
“Well, I think that Pat Kraft, the athletic director at Penn State, is going to take a big swing,” Klatt said. “I don’t think that anybody is off his list, to be quite honest with you. And if I was Pat Kraft, I would start with the biggest swing possible. I know this sounds crazy, but I think the first call I would make is Nick Saban — and just make sure that that’s not going to happen.”
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Klatt then mentions other coaches, including Oregon’s Dan Lanning and Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman.
“I think Dan Lanning would get a call, and I think Marcus Freeman would get a call,” Klatt added. “Now, would Freeman leave Notre Dame? I’m not sure. He just went to the national championship. You know, I’m sure he feels like he can build something special.
“Is Penn State a better job than Notre Dame? I don’t think it is, personally. But that’s a call that I would make if I was Pat Kraft.”
Joel Klatt Suggests Head Coach Strategy Penn State Should Adopt to Replace James Franklin
Given Penn State was willing to buy out James Franklin in excess of $45 million, one thing is clear to Joel Klatt that money is not going to be a problem for AD Pat Kraft when recruiting for their next head coach.
“There’s rumors, and they seem pretty substantial, that Penn State’s like, okay, we know we’re spending $700 million on an update to Beaver Stadium,” Klatt said. “We know we just wrote a $45 million check to James Franklin. And we know we’d have to write a $100 million check for Marcus Freeman and his staff.”
Because of this, Klatt believes that Penn State’s leadership should not hesitate to aim high in their next move.
“This reminds me a lot, maybe not quite to the tier of Georgia, but Mark Richt at Georgia seemed to have a ceiling on that program, and they felt like they could go higher,” Klatt added. “They bring in Kirby Smart, and they did go higher. Maybe that’s the moment that we’re in for Penn State right now — where the next guy is going to lift the ceiling of this program and actually win some of these top 25, top 10 games that James Franklin has fallen short in.”
It remains to be seen what Penn State do to fill the void left by James Franklin.
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