The Penn State Nittany Lions came into the season with expectations of winning a national championship, thanks to one of the most talented and experienced rosters in college football. Instead, James Franklin’s program has fallen out of the top 25 college football rankings before the second week of October.
For a head coach who already had a lengthy history of losing must-win games, the Nittany Lions’ carrying over the loss versus Oregon into an embarrassing defeat against UCLA is a reflection on Franklin. It should also leave the school with no other choice but to replace him. With that in mind, it’s time to start evaluating potential Penn State coaching candidates.
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Fran Brown, Syracuse Orange Head Coach
Fran Brown is quickly becoming one of the top up-and-coming coaches in college football. The Syracuse Orange took a chance on him in 2024, identifying the Georgia Bulldogs’ defensive backs coach as having the leadership qualities, defensive mind, and recruiting ability to turn the program around. He’s delivered and then some in his first head-coaching stint.
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Brown took over a program that went 6-7 prior to his arrival and overhauled it in a single year. The transfer portal played a big part in that turnaround, with Kyle McCord (4,779 passing yards, 34-12 TD-INT), Fadil Diggs (7.5 sacks), Devin Grant (3 forced fumbles, 2 sacks, and 1 interception), and Jackson Meeks (1,021 receiving yards) proving instrumental in Syracuse’s first 10-win season in six years.
He also brings an excellent track record as a recruiter, but it’s the on-field success that matters. In 2024, Brown went 3-1 versus ranked teams, including a 42-38 victory over No. 6 Miami. While the Orange have taken a step back in 2025, losing starting quarterback Steve Angeli to injury is the reason for that. There would be some risk here for Penn State, since Brown is still a pretty inexperienced head coach, but his success at 43 years old is already impressive and prominent Power 4 schools likely already have an eye on him.
Brent Key, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Head Coach
Pulling Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets coach Brent Key out of the South won’t be easy. He’s an Alabama native and a Georgia Tech alum who has spent almost the entirety of his coaching career at Central Florida, Alabama, and Georgia Tech. Taking the Penn State job would be a big leap for the 47-year-old head coach, but his resume at a smaller program speaks for itself.
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Key inherited a Yellow Jackets football program that went 10-28 (.263 winning percentage) in its previous four seasons under Paul Johnson and Geoff Collins. He went 4-4 as an interim coach in 2022 and carried over that success the following year, delivering Georgia Tech its first seven-win season since 2018. Now in his fourth year, Key has a .580 winning percentage, and the Yellow Jackets are on pace for seven-plus wins for the third consecutive season for the first time in a decade.
Georgia Tech isn’t just beating cupcake opponents. Key has delivered wins versus Clemson, Miami (twice), and his team took the Bulldogs to eight overtimes last season. He’ll bring a run-heavy offense that fits well into the Nittany Lions’ identity and history with running backs, and he’s been a better coach than Franklin. Penn State can always bring in top recruits, but Key gives them an excellent football coach.
Curt Cignetti, Indiana Hoosiers Head Coach
People don’t realize how much of a fight Indiana University will put up to try and keep anyone from poaching Curt Cignetti. The Indiana Hoosiers head coach has been a winner at every stop he’s made. Cignetti posted a 53-17 record at IUP, a 52-9 mark at James Madison, and now he’s made the Hoosiers a perennial College Football Playoff contender.
What’s particularly impressive is that Cignetti brought a lot of his starters from James Madison with him to Indiana. It worked, with the Hoosiers going from 3-9 to 11-2 and flipping their conference record from 1-8 to 8-1 in a single season. By the end of this season, he’ll have delivered Indiana its only two years with double-digit victories.
Cignetti also has a great track record with quarterbacks, and his latest work is on full display with Fernando Mendoza. Equally notable, his defensive coordinator (Bryant Haines) is orchestrating one of the best defenses in the nation this year. Cignetti has likely taken Indiana as far as it can go, but he would have a legitimate shot at winning a national championship with the Nittany Lions.
Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss Rebels Head Coach
Lane Kiffin will always be connected to the top head-coaching vacancies in college football. If for nothing else, it provides the head coach with leverage to secure a new deal from the Ole Miss Rebels. If Penn State fires James Franklin, though, it might be the opportunity that finally gets Kiffin to leave Mississippi.
Kiffin has won big games with different quarterbacks, from knocking out No. 4 LSU with Trinidad Chambliss this season to defeating Georgia in 2024 with Jaxson Dart. He’s also flexible with his offense, riding running back Quinshon Hudkins to 11 wins (2023), engineering 10-win seasons out of Matt Corral (2021) and Dart (2024), and Chambliss will likely join that group this season.
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Bringing in Kiffin would mean that Penn State becomes major players in the transfer portal in addition to the excellent recruiting work this program already does. This would be the next big stepping stone in Kiffin’s coaching career, and it really could be an outstanding pairing long-term.
