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The early signing period kicked off this week as talented high school football players ink deals with their respective colleges. Penn State will not secure a strong December recruiting haul.
Much uncertainty surrounds the program as the offseason gets started. The Nittany Lions still do not have a head football coach.
The program fired James Franklin in mid-October after a 3-3 start to the 2025 season. They are now in the process of finding his replacement.
The initial belief was that the traditional college football power would have the pick of the litter. That has not been the case.
The Nittany Lions have been turned down by each of their top targets. Candidates have instead leveraged that interest to secure major paydays.
Penn State coaching targets are $370 million richer
Many top names have emerged as potential replacements. Those include Matt Rhule, Curt Cignetti, Kalani Sitake, and Mike Elko.
Each has shooed away interest to stay put at their current schools. All have received raises in the process.
Rhule reworked his contract midway through the year to land both an extension and a bump in bonus incentives. Cignetti, meanwhile, inked an eight-year deal worth more than $92 million.
A brief flirtation with Elko ended with a contract extension to remain at Texas A&M while the Nittany Lions were big-timed by BYU money men in their pursuits of Sitake.
Others linked to Penn State include Brent Key (extended at Georgia Tech), Clark Lea (extended at Vanderbilt), and Eli Drinkwitz (extended at Missouri).
On3 Sports reports that in total, the seven coaches connected to the Penn State search have banked more than $370 million in raises across the lives of their contracts. It comes out to a combined $67 million a year.
Those numbers could continue to grow with the Nittany Lions seemingly whiffing on another target in Jeff Brohm. The coach has declined an offer from the school with the expectation of reworking his deal at Louisville.
The denials have only extended the uncertainty within the program. Its former coach is capitalizing.
James Franklin took his recruits to Virginia Tech.
Despite having only been in Blacksburg for two weeks, he was able to secure a Top 25 recruiting class. Many of his current signees were once Penn State football pledges.
Eleven of Virginia Tech’s 22 prospects were once committed to play at Penn State. They followed Franklin to the ACC.
The Nittany Lions’ class, meanwhile, is nearly non-existent. The school was only able to secure two signatures. It currently boasts a national ranking of 135 (out of 136).
There will be another signing period in February. The next head coach should also be able to utilize the transfer portal in order to bolster the recruiting class. There is still hope.
Identifying James Franklin’s replacement is the first step in finding stability. Penn State can’t strikeout much longer.