Penn State may have misevaluated how desirable its HC job is

When Penn State made the decision to fire head coach James Franklin earlier this season, it was almost certainly a move that needed to happen. It was simply time. But even with that being the case there was always going to be a significant risk in such a change. Even though Franklin had struggled to win big games and was unable to help the program break through to the level of college football's elites, he was still an extremely successful coach that always had the program in the mix. 

They may not have won the big games, but they won a lot of games and were at least in a position to play in big games.

But when they started losing the not-so-big games, and were one of the most disappointing teams in the country this season, the change was made in the name of finding a coach that could help the program reach that next level.

The Nittany Lions are now finding out their job might not have been as desirable as they previously have thought.

Penn State is quickly running out of options

When Penn State initially fired Franklin, vice president of intercollegiate athletics Pat Kraft, the person running the head-coaching search, said that "everyone" would be under consideration for the job, indicating that he and the program were in the market for a prominent, big-time hire. 

After all, that would be the only reason you make such a seismic change based on a bad half season. 

It is not like Franklin was producing bad results year-in and year-out. They were consistently a top-15 program in the country and were less than a year removed from playing in the CFP semifinals, one interception away from potentially playing for the national championship.

They were right there. They were right on the threshold of greatness. Then in less than two months to open this season everything just fell apart. 

When you declare "everyone" as being under consideration, and when you think you are a prominent program in the country, it sets some high expectations for who the new coach could be. But pretty much every name that was mentioned, whether Penn State ever had a chance at them or not, has either re-signed with their current program or gone elsewhere. That list includes Mike Elko (Texas A&M), Curt Cignetti (Indiana), Matt Rhule (Nebraska), Eli Drinkwitz (Missouri), Clark Lea (Vanderbilt), Alex Golesh (Auburn), Bob Chesney (UCLA) and now Kalani Sitake (BYU).

Where Penn State turns now is anybody's guess. Interim head coach Terry Smith has momentum building behind him after a three-game winning streak, and he has certainly pandered to the right group of people at Penn State by talking up Joe Paterno and being a Penn State guy, but that would be a woefully underwhelming hire. 

Does somebody like Brian Hartline move the needle? Could Louisville's Jeff Brohm be the answer? And even if so, is he an upgrade over Franklin? He hasn't really won much in the ACC, and his previous Big Ten experience at Purdue produced consistently mediocre results. 

At some point Penn State is going to get its coach. It might even work out as it hopes in the long-run. But the optics of this search, and the way they have swung and missed on almost every prominent name, all while their recruiting class gets decimated with several players de-committing and following Franklin to Virginia Tech, are truly ugly for the program.

They thought they could do better than Franklin. They thought they could get somebody that could get them to the next level right away and win a national championship. If not, why fire an incredibly successful coach after one bad half season?

Now they are finding out that maybe they were not the destination they thought they were for big-time head-coaching candidates. 

If they did not get this hire right and take big steps forward in the coming seasons, they are going to be left standing with plenty of egg on their faces. It may be a humbling experience for the program.