$36 million college football coach gains steam in Penn State coaching hunt

The Penn State Nittany Lions logo in the end zone before the Rose Bowl game | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

College football head coaching jobs are coming open and being filled at an unprecedented rate right now. However, one of the earliest gigs to open, Penn State is still wading through candidates in search of their next fearsome leader. Right now, there's one name getting big buzz and a second that's quietly surging for the Nittany Lions.

BYU head man Kalani Sitake's name was linked to the Penn State job and FootballScoop reported as late as Monday that the two sides were continuing ongoing discussions. He appears to be one of, if not, the favorite(s) to land the coveted Penn State job. Even our friend Kalshi, the American-based predictive trading market, has Sitake as their favorite to land the job.

Kalshi lists markets and percentage chances for each of the top options for the Penn State vacancy, and as of early Monday afternoon, Kalani Sitake is the firm leader, but certainly not a majority favorite, with a 34% chance to become the PSU coach. His trading price is listed at 39 cents for a "Yes" option to become Penn State coach. To make it simple, it's a 1-100 scale where the higher the price is the more likely the option.

The No. 2 most likely option, per Kalshi, became Jeff Brohm as of Monday afternoon, though. The Louisville head coach whipped Kentucky 41-0 in a regular season finale rivalry game but had previously lost three games straight. Perhaps he's now back in the mix with a third straight season of 8+ wins with the Cardinals.

Kalshi had him at a 25% chance to become Penn State coach as of about 4 p.m. ET, the second-highest behind Sitake. His "Yes" price is also the second-highest of any Nittany Lion candidate at 25 cents, which is Brohm's highest price on the PSU board since Halloween.

Louisville Cardinals head coach Jeff Brohm on the sidelines | Matt Stone/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Jeff Brohm contract details

Though a contract extension was rumored, as of now, no new deal has been announced. So, Jeff Brohm is currently making roughly $5.9 million as the Louisville head coach this season, and that number goes upwards by $100,000 each season he stays, topping out at $6.5 million a few years from now.

His total deal, going back to 2022 when he signed it, is worth about $36.6 million. Per that contract, Jeff Brohm's buyout is right over $33 million, which is 100% of the contract he has remaining. But if he decides to leave Louisville and break the contract himself, his buyout would be just one million bucks, meaning that if Penn State or another team did poach him, they'd only have to pay the million dollars.