The Penn State Nittany Lions have been searching for a new head football coach since making the midseason decision to move on from James Franklin. Quite a few names have come up as potential options for the program, but the process seems to be picking up speed when it comes to one name in particular.
According to a report from John Brice and Scott Roussel of FootballScoop, Penn State has seen talks with current BYU head coach Kalani Sitake pick up steam in recent days.
"Penn State and BYU head coach Kalani Sitake are continuing to discuss the Nittany Lions's head football coaching vacancy, which has been open since midseason when Pat Kraft fired 12th-year head coach James Franklin amidst a 3-3 start to a season that eventually concluded last weekend at 6-6 following a 40-36 win at Rutgers," they wrote.
Sitake would be a very interesting pickup for the Nittany Lions. He has done a fantastic job with BYU and is set to lead the Cougars into the Big 12 championship game against Texas Tech.
Throughout his tenure at BYU since starting the job in 2016, Sitake has led the Cougars to an 83-44 overall record. So far this season, the team has gone 11-1 under his leadership.
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Penn State cannot afford to miss with its next hire. Franklin has already been doing a great job since being hired at Virginia Tech. He has been coming after Nittany Lions' recruits and has been winning quite a few of them away.
Whether or not Sitake is the right guy for the job is a complete unknown. It's also not a guarantee that Penn State will end up hiring him at this point in time.
Anything could still happen. Plenty of other names, including coaches like Lincoln Riley and Kalen DeBoer, could still be in the running for the job. The Nittany Lions have options to choose from.
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For Penn State to get back to being a serious national championship contender, the program has to get it right. Fans can only sit patiently and wait to find out what the Nittany Lions choose to do.
Perhaps that hire could come soon in the form of Sitake.
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