The overarching theme from Penn State fans is that Franklin should be gone. Some say he should have been gone on Sunday, others think the Nittany Lion should wait until the end of the season.

With that being said, most of the people you talk to in person or online don’t have a valid replacement for Franklin if he were to leave. After all, if Penn State gets rid of Franklin and then hires someone worse, that will not solve anything.

In today’s college football, schools must be very careful about who they hire during a moment of transition. The worst-case scenario is that half the team enters the transfer portal to follow the coach, similar to the Marshall situation from last year.

Universities must also take into account recruits. While high schoolers commit to schools and not coaches, it is common for them to feel loyal to the coach they commit to and could reopen their recruitment in the case of a firing. Penn State’s 2027 class is shaping up to be really strong, and the Nittany Lions can’t afford to lose anyone.

With all of the difficulties in mind, we decided to make a list of potential Franklin replacements, if the school were to move on from him in the near future. These are in no particular order.

Matt Rhule: Nebraska Head Coach

Matt Rhule likely has the best odds of being in the hunt for the Penn State job if Franklin and the Nittany Lions part ways.

While he was born and raised in New York City, Rhule moved to State College as a teenager and played his high school career with the Little Lions just over a mile from Beaver Stadium. After high school, the Nebraska head coach walked on to Penn State under Joe Paterno and played from 1994 to 1997.

Rhule has been a head coach for the past 12 seasons, making stops at Temple, Baylor, and the Carolina Panthers before landing with the Corn Huskers in 2023.

While at Temple, Rhule led the Owls to their first 7-0 start in program history under then-athletic director Pat Kraft, a stretch that included the team’s first win over Penn State since 1941. Although Temple lost four of its final seven games that season, the program reemerged on the national stage and went on to win the American Athletic Conference championship in 2016.

The knock on Rhule is that he has a career record of 2-22 against top-25 opponents and 0-11 against top-10 opponents. This is exactly the reason Penn State fans don’t support Franklin at the moment. While it is much harder to beat top-tier teams at Temple than Penn State, Rhule has had plenty of chances with Baylor and Nebraska as well.

Manny Diaz: Duke Head Coach

Another feasible hire would be Duke head coach and former Penn State defensive coordinator, Manny Diaz.

Diaz worked with Penn State during the 2022 season after he was fired from Miami the year prior. While his head coaching gig in Coral Cables did not go too well, he maintained a record of 21-15 over three seasons and had his team ranked in the AP Poll top 15 at one point.

Now at Duke, Diaz has done a notably better job leading the Blue Devils. In 2025, they are 4-2 with losses to Tulane and Illinois.

Where Diaz has the advantage is that he coached many of the players on the roster right now. Players, such as Tony Rojas, still talk about the coach during media availability. If the worry is players transferring because of a new coach, Diaz would most likely be the answer to that.

Matt Campbell: Iowa State Head Coach

A person not connected to the Nittany Lions at all, but would be a decent replacement, is Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell.

Campbell’s coaching path is interesting. At just 32 years old, the youngest head coach in the FBS at the time, he took over as Toledo’s head coach. From 2012 to 2015, Campbell had the MAC team in national conversation, leading them to a No. 19 ranking in 2015 with a win against SEC side Arkansas.

Betting on himself, Campbell declined an offer to work for Urban Meyer’s Ohio State staff. He later took the head coaching job with Iowa State in 2016, where he has been successful since.

Campbell has been named the Big 12 coach of the year twice in under ten years and has led his teams to wins against No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 TCU, No. 25 Oregon, and No. 15 Miami, among other ranked wins.

The Ohio native has been doing more with less for his whole career, and would be in a position at Penn State where he has more. The issue is that Campbell has run the 3-3-5 defense every year as a head coach. The Nittany Lions have been a 4-down defense for a long time and just brought in Jim Knowles, who also likes four defensive linemen.

Kenny Dillingham: Arizona State Head Coach

Kenny Dillingham is the least likely of potential head coaches who would make the move to Penn State, but would be an excellent grab for the Nittany Lions.

Dillingham joined the Sun Devils as head coach in 2022, becoming the first Arizona State alumnus and Arizona native to hold the position.

In his first season, the team went 3–9 and was projected to do similarly in 2024. Instead, the Sun Devils went 11-3 and went toe-to-toe with Texas in the College Football Playoffs after winning the Big 12. In 2025, Dillingham has the team ranked once again with a 4-1 record.

The former Oregon offensive coordinator is notorious for his youthful personality and investment in the Arizona State program. Similar to Franklin, Dillingham cares about everything, including the fan culture. He would likely be able to bring enough excitement into the program every year to take full advantage of Penn State’s NIL potential.

Now, the other way Penn State can go is to take a risk on a first-time head coach. This has been the theme for big schools around the country in recent years.

Oregon hired Dan Lanning from his role as defensive coordinator at Georgia. Georgia hired Kirby Smart from his role as defensive coordinator at Alabama. The aforementioned Dillingham was hired from his role as offensive coordinator at Oregon, and the list goes on.

If Penn State is looking to make a splash, a first-time head coach filled with energy could be the direction it goes. While the risk is high, so is the reward.

Here is another list of potential head coaching replacements for Penn State, this time of current coordinators.

Ben Arbuckle: Oklahoma Offensive Coordinator

It is only a matter of time before Ben Arbuckle lands a job as a head coach somewhere in the country. While he is still just 29 years old, he has already been responsible for the development of No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward, and a Heisman front-runner in John Mateer.

Arbuckle started his career as the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at Western Kentucky. After two years, he moved to Washington State to serve the same role. Despite being the youngest Power 5 coordinator in the country at the time, he helped develop two of the nation’s best quarterbacks.

Before the 2025 season, Arbuckle left with Mateer for Oklahoma, where he has the Sooners undefeated through five games and No. 6 in the AP Poll.

Will Stein: Oregon Offensive Coordinator

Another offensive coordinator that the Penn State staff knows well is Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein. The former Louisville quarterback joined the Ducks in 2023 and has helped them boast one of the most explosive offenses since.

Stien has led the Oregon offense to victories over Penn State the past two years, including a 45-point game in the Big Ten Championship. If Dillingham is any proof that Oregon offensive coordinators can be head coaches, Stien could have a successful career in Happy Valley.

Tim Banks: Tennessee Defensive Coordinator

Tim Banks, the current Tennessee defensive coordinator, is another former Penn State coach who should at least be looked at should a coaching change come. Banks served as the safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator for the Nittany Lions from 2016 to 2020.

While in Happy Valley, Banks was responsible for the development of NFL safeties Marcus Allen, Troy Apke, Nick Scott, Garrett Taylor, and Lamont Wade. While he wasn’t the play caller, the Nittany Lions won three New Year’s Six bowls while he was there.

Now with the Volunteers, Banks has improved every season and helped Tennessee get some iconic wins. These include beating No. 3 Alabama and No. 10 Clemson in 2022, No. 20 Iowa in 2023, and No. 7 Alabama and No. 15 Oklahoma in 2024.

Tony White: Florida State Defensive Coordinator

The final coordinator Penn State should consider is Florida State’s defensive play-caller Tony White. The Key West, Florida, native has experience in the Big Ten as Nebraska’s defensive coordinator from 2022-2023.

Before that, he was at Syracuse, where his unit ranked in the top-three of the ACC and top-20 of the FBS in total defense over his final two years. Now with the Seminoles, he helped orchestrate an upset against No. 8 Alabama.

The only time Florida State has given up more than 22 points this season was in a double overtime loss to Virginia away from home.

Similar to the Campbell issue, though, White loves to run an attacking 3-3-5 system on his defense. Also, any defensive-minded head coach would likely take play-calling away from Jim Knowles, who just became the highest-paid coordinator in the country.