Penn State’s coaching search tightens as the program runs out of proven options
Penn State enters its regular season finale with bowl hopes on the line as Terry Smith makes his final case for the full-time job, while key coaching candidates come off the board.
Penn State interim head coach Terry Smith has one more chance to make his case. Saturday’s matchup with Rutgers is more than a finale. It’s a bowl-eligibility swing game, a program-stability test, and the last on-field data point before athletic director Pat Kraft turns the coaching search into its final form.
A shrinking candidate board raises new questions for Penn State
Smith has quietly steadied the team since taking over. Penn State has won two straight, beating Nebraska and Michigan State by a combined 45 points. The locker room energy has shifted. Players have rallied behind him. And for a department searching for direction after a chaotic October, that matters.
However, the pressure on Penn State to hire an elite name means the institution will likely look outside their program.
For weeks, Penn State has been linked to former New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll, a Super Bowl–winning offensive mind whose reputation for quarterback development fits what the administration wants. The Lions have also been tied to Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline, the hottest young play-caller in the Big Ten and arguably the sport’s most dominant recruiter over the last decade. Both represent high-upside swings. Both come with risk. Neither is close to a sure thing.
And the board of proven college head coaches is shrinking fast.
On Thursday, Eli Drinkwitz — one of the most intriguing names in the Power Four landscape — signed a six-year extension with Missouri. That effectively removed a coach who rebuilt the Tigers, delivered an 11-win season, and turned Mizzou into a transfer-portal force. On Friday, another option vanished.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea agreed to a new six-year deal that keeps him in Nashville.
“Sources: Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea has agreed to a new six-year deal to stay with the Commodores… Lea received interest from multiple suitors in this cycle,” Thamel posted. “He’s led Vanderbilt to a 9-2 record and a 5-2 mark in the SEC, asserting Vanderbilt as part of the College Football Playoff conversation.”
Lea’s rise has been one of the most unexpected stories of the season. After going 25-35 through his first four years and finishing 7-6 in 2024 — his first winning season with the Commodores — he has Vanderbilt ranked No. 14 and sitting at 9-2 heading into Saturday’s rivalry showdown with No. 19 Tennessee. That kind of turnaround makes him exactly the profile Penn State hoped to chase.
Now he’s off the table.
With Drinkwitz and Lea locked into long-term deals, the list of Power Four head coaches with proven success and realistic availability is shrinking. That leaves Penn State at a crossroads. Kraft can take a home-run shot on an elite coordinator like Hartline. He can pursue an NFL name like Daboll. Or he can lean into continuity and elevate the man already holding the locker room together.
The players believe in Terry Smith. The performances reflect it. And on Saturday, with a bowl bid on the line, Smith gets one more opportunity to show the athletic department what his version of Penn State football looks like.
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