Odds on Next Penn State Head Coach

The Penn State football team’s disappointing start to this season has been a surprise to just about everyone, me included. I had them ranked at the top of my list and predicted them going all the way and securing a championship. They returned the vast majority of their starters from last season’s very successful team, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

The Nittany Lions jumped out to a predictable 3-0 start this year when they dispatched of three cream puff teams in an easy fashion. Nevada, FIU, and Villanova were all dismantled by an obviously much better team. But Oregon came to town on September 27th and put an end to that win streak. The Ducks secured a 30-24 OT win in Happy Valley. Most experts considered this a surprising upset but figured there was room for at least one blemish on Penn State’s record. However, this was just the beginning of the end.

Penn State would lose to UCLA in their next game and then Northwestern this past weekend, bringing their W/L total to an unacceptable 3-3 mark. It was simply too much to bear for Penn State fans and boosters and someone had to pay the price. Head Coach James Franklin would suffer the full force of that wrath and be fired the day after the Northwestern loss. It didn’t matter to the school that they still owed him $49M in contract money. He was done.

Terry Smith has been selected as the interim head coach until the school can figure out who their next head coach will be. And that brings us to the subject of this article. Who will in fact be Penn State’s next head coach and what are the odds for each candidate?

Lots of names are going around and a surprising name is near the very top of the list. Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule is the number two overall favorite to take the position despite being in just his third season as the Cornhuskers’ main man.

It hasn’t been all roses for Matt Rhule in Lincoln either. He led his team to just a 5-7 mark in his first season followed by a 7-6 record last year. It’s true that he is having a good year this season. He has coached Nebraska to a 5-1 record and has them ranked #25 as of right now. But Nebraska dropped their biggest game of the year to Michigan and looked pretty pathetic while doing so. They were outplayed in virtually every aspect of that game. The score looked closer than the game was and if it weren’t for a hail Mary to close the first half it may have ended up being a blowout.

If Matt Rhule is hired away from Lincoln, it would feel like a monumental slap in the face to Huskers fans and school officials who have done everything to make him feel welcome there. In my personal opinion, it’s just a bad idea.

At the very top of the list is Joe Brady. He is the Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator at the moment. Brady has never been a head coach but has coached just about every position as well as having success as offensive coordinator. The tie-in to Penn State is that he was a graduate assistant there in 2015 and 2016. Even though he tops the odds list he doesn’t seem like a slam dunk to me. Not having any head coaching experience may be ultimately why he isn’t chosen. But the Bills just dropped two games as well, so there is that.

Below you can find the list of odds to fill this new vacancy.

Odds on Penn State’s Next Head Coach

— Odds from BetOnline.ag – Sign up and deposit now for a free 50% bonus added to your account immediately.