Who Will Be Penn State’s Next Head Coach? Four Names PSU Needs to Call

The best job of this year's college football coaching cycle is officially open. That was Joel Klatt's take after Penn State's decision to fire James Franklin on Sunday.

"Penn State is the apple of the cycle. This is going to be the best job. The reason is that the support is there," Klatt said on his podcast, "The Joel Klatt Show." "The athletic director is fantastic. They're just putting in nine figures-plus into that stadium, which is already one of the best environments in college football. You have a history of success, you have a legacy, you have a tradition, you have all of these things there at your disposal.

"You can win a national championship up there."

But as Penn State might have the best resources available for any head coach vacancy in the coming months, it has to be careful with its next hire, too. Before the team's underwhelming 3-3 start this season, Franklin consistently had the Nittany Lions as a Big Ten contender, winning at least 10 games in six of the last eight seasons (excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 season).

That's why Klatt believes Penn State's next hire has to fit a specific mold. 

"There has been this ceiling, this cap, on where they've played over the last 10 years with James Franklin, like Georgia with Mark Richt," Klatt said. "Do you want to bring somebody in who can take you to the next level, right? Not just totally rebuild it and do all these things.

"I think it should be a true, best-candidate-possible type of search. You don't want to go after just an offensive guy. You don't want to go after just a defensive guy. You don't want to go and put yourself into a corner and pick somebody just based on parameters that you're setting for yourself."

So, who fits that mold? Well, Klatt