Top 5 Penn State coaching candidates after firing James Franklin

Penn State has fired James Franklin despite knowing it would have to pay a hefty buyout. That will leave athletics director Pat Kraft with a chance to get a jump on a high-profile head coaching search to figure out who will direct this program moving forward. While it may be too late to save this season and achieve the goals it set out to accomplish at the beginning of the year, Penn State will get a chance to essentially wipe the slate clean and see if it can spoil the hopes for some others moving forward while coming to terms on a more long-term plan moving into 2026 and beyond.

It's never too early to look at some potential candidates to replace Franklin, with just about any option open because of the brand of Penn State football.

Here is a quick look at some of the names you should expect to hear mentioned as potential candidates to be the next head coach at Penn State. We'll start right in the same conference with one familiar name.

Matt Rhule

Matt Rhule makes a ton of sense. The current Nebraska coach is good friends with Athletic Director Pat Kraft and Kraft could make a pretty quick phone call to try to lure Rhule away from the Cornhuskers job. Additionally, Rhule was a linebacker at Penn State in the 1990s and a "return home" could be another big pitch to him.

Rhule has flipped Nebraska around and holds a 17-14 record with the Cornhuskers. Nebraska is sitting at 5-1 on the season, and with a budding superstar at quarterback in Dylan Raiola, Rhule is in a position to continue to build yet another program. However, his record against top teams is similar to Franklin's, so a different look could be on the table.

The big get with Rhule would be how he's turned programs around. In his four years at Temple, he had the Owls ranked and playing big games, especially in his final two years, with a 10-4 and 10-3 record in those seasons. He also flipped Baylor around before taking an NFL job, but his program building success could be a big factor in potentially poaching him from Nebraska.

Terry Smith

Terry Smith joined the program the same year as Franklin. Smith has quickly become one of the strongest recruiting coaches in the country, consistently dominating the Pittsburgh region. A cornerbacks coach for two years with the Nittany Lions before fully becoming an associate head coach in addition to remaining the cornerbacks coach made Smith one of the most respected coaches on the staff.

Smith was named the Interim Head Coach following the firing of Franklin and has the opportunity to turn the season back around. Despite a not-so-favorable first three games, away against Iowa, home against Indiana and away against Ohio State, Smith can flip things around.

Manny Diaz

Manny Diaz was the defensive coordinator at Penn State for two seasons before taking the Duke coaching job. He has quickly turned Duke into a bigger football school and has pulled in some big-time transfers. Additionally, he's proven his recruiting while at Penn State, before having some follow him to Durham, North Carolina.

The former Penn State coach would be back in a big coaching job, like he was at Miami. Even being at Duke, the Blue Devils don't have the football history that the Nittany Lions do.

Diaz has the Blue Devils at 4-2 and first in the ACC, albeit in the early phases of the conference schedule. However, he's a proven coach who had the defense rolling while coaching the Nittany Lions.

Curt Cignetti

Cignetti is a name many fans want. He just wins. It doesn't matter where he is, he wins. He's turned Indiana into a football school and may be on his way to a potential championship after the Hoosiers' road victory over Oregon.

Cignetti holds a 36-6 record throughout James Madison and Indiana. After not winning big games last year, Cignetti got the Hoosiers over the hump with their most recent win, something Franklin hadn't done in nine years.

The Pittsburgh native would return to his home state and coach an even bigger brand than what Indiana has grown to in the first year and a half. He'd be at the top of the mountain on the coaching pole, coaching a team that has consistently been in contention for championships.

Matt Campbell

Keeping things more realistic, Matt Campbell could make a lot of sense. After his best season last year, it seems Iowa State has taken a step back with two straight losses.

A big thing Campbell has shown to do is developing wide receivers and quarterbacks. Two receivers were drafted in the second round last year and Rocco Becht looks to be making his way towards a draft positions, even if it is in the later round.

But that's where former Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy went, and he's proven to be a starting NFL quarterback.

The biggest problems Penn State has had is developing the quarterback and developing receivers. Allar didn't take that same step he took last year in his game, and without a good development of receivers, it wasn't set up for him. Under Campbell, the future at QB and WR could be in good hands.

Despite these five candidates, there are other big names, including Nick Saban and Urban Meyer, who would probably take a lot to lure away from their TV jobs. Kraft and Penn State has a big decision on their hands for the future of one of the most consistent programs in the country.

This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Top 5 coaching candidates for Penn State after firing James Franklin