Penn State AD: New coach be could named in a 'matter of days'

Penn State is looking to replace Bill O'Brien, who was announced as the Houston Texans head coach.  (Getty Images)

Penn State is expected to hire a new coach within a matter of days rather than weeks, athletic director Dave Joyner said Thursday.

Penn State is looking to replace Bill O'Brien, who left after two years on the job to take the head coaching job with the Houston Texans. The school announced that defensive assistant Larry Johnson will be the interim coach until a replacement is named.

Joyner will chair a six-person search committee to help find the next coach.

"Our job is going to be to select the next great football coach at Penn State and to get the best football coach available," Joyner said, via ESPN.com.  "We've begun a very robust search that will bring us a great next football coach."

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Joyner declined to say who has interviewed and said a number of head coaches have reached out to Penn State to inquire about the job.

"I think the atmosphere around this search is very much different than the last search," Joyner said. "It's different in that I think it's a lot more attractive at this point."