The Penn State Nittany Lions football program is going to have a major decision to make this offseason regarding their nrxt head coach to replace James Franklin in State College.
While Nebraska's Matt Rhule and Indiana's Curt Cignetti seemed like viable options before remaining status quo at their respective schools, the Nittany Lions are looking elsewhere.
New information has recently emerged regarding the Ohio State Buckeyes ' offensive coordinator Brian Hartline. Should Hartline leave Columbus at season's end, Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde would not be surprised if Hartline bolted.
“I think they’re looking at a lot of different areas,” Forde told Dan Patrick. “Curt Cignetti would have been probably the first option there, but he quickly took himself out of it. I don’t think Matt Rhule was a super attractive option to begin with, he’s taken himself out of it. A lot of talk about assistant coaches, Brian Hartline at Ohio State, possibly Joe Brady from the NFL, who’s with the Buffalo Bills, Eli Drinkwitz maybe from Missouri. So there are options there, maybe a little more quiet than the SEC searches.”
Hartline told reporters in August how excited he was to coach such a talented skill position group, particularly a loaded receiving corps.
"You can't challenge a relationship if you don't have a relationship," Hartline said. "So, you can't challenge a guy, you can't be at a guy, you can't push a guy unless the relationship is built first. So, the faster you get the relationship built, the quicker you can get to uncomfortable conversations, and then ultimately you grow. So, building the foundation is still number one, and those guys doing that on their own is a good sign."
If Hartline left Ryan Day's staff, there's a good chance the Buckeyes would be fine. The question remains, however, if the Nittany Lions are ready to pull the trigger.
We'll see what happens.