New Penn State football coach: Top 5 best candidates after another favorite drops out

The blows keep coming for Penn State amid the Nittany Lions' search for the program's new college football coach. First, Indiana's Curt Cignetti signed a contract extension after being linked to the Penn State job.

On Thursday, Nebraska announced that Matt Rhule has also inked a new deal. Immediately following the firing of James Franklin, Cignetti and Rhule were two of the top candidates floated as potential candidates.

With Nebraska extending Matt Rhule’s contract, Louisville’s Jeff Brohm is new favorite, at 40%, to be Penn State’s next coach via @Kalshi. Ohio State OC Brian Hartline is next at 29%, Missouri’s Eliah Drinkwitz (17%) & Iowa State’s Matt Campbell (14%) pic.twitter.com/YdoIVF4Liv
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) October 30, 2025

Instead, it appears the Penn State vancancy helped both coaches land lucrative contract extensions. With both Rhule and Cignetti off the board, let's take a look at the best remaining candidates for Penn State.

Oregon OC Will Stein

For some reason, it seems that coordinators have been absent from most college football hot board lists. With the growing number of vacancies, teams are going to have to start exploring the top assistant coaches around the country as candidates.

Few assistants will be as in demand as Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein. It helps that Stein has worked closely with Ducks head coach Dan Lanning.

Penn State essentially fired Franklin for his lack of wins in marquee games. The challenge is there are not many sitting head coaches that possess this quality who appear willing to leave their current gigs.

Stein is an innovative offensive mind who already understands the Big Ten landscape. Penn State would need to be willing to gamble on an assistant without head coaching experience.

Arizona State HC Kenny Dillingham

Kenny Dillingham may be hard to pry away from his alma mater, but Penn State can likely offer more of everything. Not only could the Nittany Lions make an imposing financial offer, Penn State also has the NIL resources that are likely ahead of Arizona State.

Kenny Dillingham was asked if he thinks about coaching openings at Penn State and LSU, and he shut it down immediately:

"My number one focus is our players. Our football team. Everything about us, that simple. I am so singularly focused on us."@SunDevilSource pic.twitter.com/zXvYTeBtOs
— Jakob Brooks (@Jakobrooks) October 27, 2025

Dillingham already led Arizona State to the College Football Playoff. There is a strong case to be made that Dillingham has what it takes to win a national title at Penn State.

Bills OC Joe Brady

Vegas may know something that we don't, but Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady has been listed among the Penn State favorites in recent days. Brady has been linked to several college football vacancies thanks to his role in helping LSU win a national title as an assistant.

Tennessee HC Josh Heupel

It may be tough to poach Josh Heupel away from Knoxville, but Penn State could park a Brinks truck of money in front of the Tennessee coach. Is the Penn State job better than Tennessee?

An argument could be made either way, but the Nittany Lions may have a clearer path to the College Football Playoff in the Big Ten than Heupel currently has in the SEC. Heupel does not strike us as someone who is aiming to be an SEC lifer, but it remains to be seen if Penn State can lure him away from the Vols.

Missouri HC Eli Drinkwitz

If Penn State wants to poach from the SEC, Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz is another name to watch. Drinkwitz has done more with less at Missouri, and this is precisely why Penn State will have competition for the Tigers coach.

Drinkwitz would bring a creative offensive system and strong recruiting ability to Happy Valley. The challenge is Florida or LSU could beat Penn State to the punch for Drinkwitz.