Penn State could've hired Brian Hartline.
It's not clear exactly what sort of pursuit the Nittany Lions put toward Ohio State's whiz recruiter, or if Hartline would've wanted to move on to a rival, but the end result is this: Hartline is the new head coach at South Florida, and Penn State is still without one.
Hartline, a former NFL receiver, has a case as the best recruiter in the country. At the wide receiver position, specifically, there's absolutely no contest.
Ohio State's never-ending brigade of NFL-bound wideouts can be credited to Hartline.
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As far as guys who have never been head coaches before, he was viewed as one of the top few candidates to get a top job.
Sure, the biggest conferences don't often hire first-time head coaches.
But most potential hires aren't Hartline, either.
Penn State couldn't close a deal with BYU's Kalani Sitake. Other jobs are getting filled, too.
James Franklin is down in Blacksburg at Virginia Tech flipping some of the recruits who had originally committed to him at Penn State.
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The Nittany Lions have to make a move here. There's only a finite amount of time in the various offseason recruiting and transfer windows. There's truly a, "You snooze, you lose" reality at play here.
Maybe there was never a path for Penn State to land Hartline.
But if there was, and if that deal wasn't closed, it's the kind of miss that could really set Penn State back.
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