Is Brian Daboll’s Next Coaching Stop in College?

During his one season with the Tide, Daboll led a National Championship offense that possessed numerous future NFL stars. Just a few of the players who were contributors on that roster include Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa, Najee Harris, Joshua Jacobs, Brian Robinson Jr., Calvin Ridley, Jerry Jeudy and DeVonta Smith.

As for his most recent time in the NFL, Daboll’s experience with the Giants didn’t go well. But that doesn’t mean that he isn’t well respected as an offensive mind. At 50 years old, his coaching career is far from over, so the questions now are when will he return to the sidelines and where?

It isn’t likely that a head coaching opportunity will come his way in the NFL during the 2026 season. So, he will need to decide if he is willing to take a coordinator position in the NFL or possibly take his talents back to college as a head coach.

And he is an intriguing candidate for the college game. As mentioned, he coached Hurts and Tagovailoa at Alabama. In the NFL, as a quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator he gained experience while working with numerous interesting players, like Brett Favre, Chad Pennington, Colt McCoy, Brady Quinn, Josh Allen, Daniel Jones and Jaxson Dart.

The open coaching position that makes the most sense is Penn State. Despite his lack of success in the NFL, he is a known name and commodity, especially in the Northeast. And his recent experience with Allen and Dart could be used as an interesting recruiting tool.

Personally, I believe that if nothing else Penn State should kick the tires with Daboll to find out his level of interest. In a current market that is already very active and likely to become saturated in the coming weeks, there is no reason for the Nittany Lions not to reach out.

Sometimes the unexpected ends up making sense, which very well could be the situation with Penn State and Daboll.