With rumors swirling and fans anxious for a new Penn State head football coach, Athletic Director Dave Joyner reaffirmed his previous commitment to an expeditious search today in a statement:

“The search for the new leader of the Penn State football program is progressing very well. We are on schedule and I anticipate having the new head coach in place in a matter of days. The search is robust as we anticipated it would be and we have an excellent pool of candidates. I have heard from many coaches, or their representatives, who have expressed their interest in the position.”

 Of course, the statement is pretty meaningless, but it’s good to know Joyner is still committed to have the search wrapped up in a matter of days. Players begin returning this weekend for spring classes and it would seem essential to have a new coach in place by then.

There have been a few developments in the last 24-hours on who the candidate might by. Multiple sources are now reporting that Vanderbilt coach James Franklin is now the frontrunner for the job although obviously nothing has been confirmed. We’ll keep you updated as we know more, but all signs point to having Penn State’s 16th head coach installed by the end of this week.