If you haven’t heard the news, Penn State fired its head coach James Franklin on Sunday, and many wondered who could be their top candidates to fill the open position.
Former Nittany Lions tight end and current CBS Sports analyst Adam Breneman went to social media and share his list of who he’d like to see his alma mater go after, and two Notre Dame names made it. Near the top was the current head coach Marcus Freeman, and I’ll be the first to tell you that he isn’t going anywhere. He loves South Bend, and he’s building a program to be relevant for a very long time.
The other name was former Irish defensive coordinator and current Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea, who has the Commodores at 5-1 and ranked as the No. 18 ranked team in the US LBM Coaches Poll which was released on Sunday afternoon. It highly unlikely that Lea would make a move either, as it’s taken him a few years to turn Vandy around, and he’d probably hate to leave before seeing the fruits of his labor.
Breneman wants his Nittany Lions to make a big splash, but with the current state of the program, it’s going to be a hard sell for many of the top coaches across the country to come in and try and rebuild in State College.
When you fire James Franklin – who was one play away from the national title game last year, with all his success and a $50M buyout – you’re not just making a change. You’re going after a program-defining hire.
My short list ⬇️
– Curt Cignetti
– Marcus Freeman
– Alex Golesh
-…— Adam Breneman (@AdamBreneman81) October 12, 2025
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Analyst suggests Penn State go after coaches with Notre Dame ties
