By Jordan SiglerShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberThe early signing period for college football is set to start on Wednesday, and Penn State has yet to announce a new head coach for 2026.
More News: Texas’ Steve Sarkisian Calls Out Notre Dame
The Nittany Lions fired James Franklin after a 3-3 start to the season, months after PSU made an appearance in the College Football Playoff semifinal.
The prestigious Big Ten job should have been one of the more attractive gigs in the country this season. But the program had to compete with SEC schools like Florida, LSU, Ole Miss, Auburn and Arkansas for a new leader.
...More News: Florida AD Receives Major Backlash Amid Jon Sumrall News
On Monday, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel denied any interest in Penn State. In the afternoon, there appeared to be serious smoke brewing between the Nittany Lions and BYU head coach Kalani Sitake, set to coach the No. 11 Cougars in the Big 12 championship on Saturday.
Per Matt Zenitz and Chris Hummer of CBS Sports, BYU thinks they have an opportunity to keep Sitake from jumping ship to PSU.
"From me and Chris Hummer, per CBS Sports sources: BYU is working hard to try to keep head coach and current Penn State target Kalani Sitake and there’s some optimism at the moment on the BYU side that they may be able to keep him. Fluid situation," Zenitz posted on X.
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Sitake has a chance to lead the Cougars to an appearance in the College Football Playoff if they can beat No. 5 Texas Tech on Saturday.
Recently, PSU has been linked to NFL names like former New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll. Of course, PSU interim head coach Terry Smith wants the job and has support from the locker room. But the process has been slow in State College.
Per 24/7 Sports, Penn State is set to have the 130th-best recruiting class for 2026. Frankin and Virginia Tech are set to have the 32nd-best class.
For more on the NCAA, head to Newsweek Sports.
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