Day 53

National Signing Day was YESTERDAY. How did Paterno-Sandusky Do?

• 156

  155

  

  Penn State

  2 Commits

  90.83

  • 0
  • 2
  • 0

  41.52

7:02 pm:

This makes a lot of sense:

Tyler Donohue

@TDsTake

Recent hours revealed increased confidence from a variety of conversations at Penn State, Iowa State and nationally, that momentum is building between PSU and Matt Campbell.

Anticipated roster resources are an enticing piece. Campbell long considered a "do-more-with-less" coach.

6:26 pm:

Meanwhile, how are things in Blacksburg?

From 124 to 22: James Franklin on Virginia Tech's hot Signing Day finish, which included 11 Penn State flips

Penn State's recruiting has sunk to a new low since Franklin was fired. Now at Virginia Tech, the Hokies' recruiting class is set to be their best in at least 13 years.

Franklin has flipped 10 Penn State commitments to Virginia Tech, sinking the Nittany Lions' class to No. 150 in the rankings, one spot below FCS South Dakota State. 

OMG!!!!!!!!

Schadenfreude's a bitch, ain't it Paterno-Sandusky???

Twenty-three players have decommitted from Penn State since Franklin's firing, leaving only two signees in the class of 2026.

Tyoo!!!! lolol

...one of the most stunning turnarounds in recent recruiting memory. Franklin has lifted a class that once sat at No. 124 in the 247Sports Composite Team Recruiting Rankings all the way to No. 22 as night fell Wednesday, which was the first day of the three-day early signing period. 

Penn State's botched coaching search turns signing day into unprecedented disaster

...the class is effectively gone.

The damage is staggering.

"Other coaches are looking around going, 'What is going on over there?'" 247Sports recruiting analyst Brian Dohn said during live National Signing Day coverage. "Penn State will come back from it because it's Penn State and it's the dominant program in the region. ... They'll be fine in the long run, but in the short term, 'embarrassing' is putting it mildly." 

CBS Sports Dec. 3

6:14 pm:

Make that nine.

Kalani Sitake sends Penn State coaching search back to drawing board again as eight targets spurn interest

Tuesday was the most dramatic day of the Penn State coaching search, as their pursuit of BYU coach Kalani Sitake seemed to be completed, only for BYU's donors to rally and lock Sitake into an extension in Provo.

Penn State getting spurned by a Sitake extension continued a trend of their coaching search, where most of the top candidates for the job have opted to re-sign with their current schools rather than make the jump to Happy Valley. At this point...it's not abundantly clear where Penn State turns from here.

...

As Penn State turns to whatever counts as Plan B (or, more accurately, Plan C or Plan D), the program needs a hard look in the mirror. This search has been an embarrassment, largely because athletic director Pat Kraft and the administration have vastly overestimated how the Penn State job is viewed nationally.

This is eerily similar to Steve Pederson overestimating Nebraska's pull after firing Frank Solich.

Penn State has been operating like a truly elite program, but the market is telling a different story. You don't pry coaches from other good jobs or their alma maters unless you're the destination job (see: LSU). Penn State is learning a harsh truth: most coaches don't view it that way.

It's a good job -- but probably the fifth-best in the Big Ten, behind Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan and USC. 

Yesterday

5:11 pm:

Nits nixed again: DeBoer denies PSU job interest

ESPN

Other coaches who were linked to Penn State's search, including Vanderbilt's Clark Lea, Louisville's Jeff Brohm, Georgia Tech's Brent Key and BYU's Kalani Sitake, agreed to contract extensions with their current schools.

Not for the first time, PSU is embarrassing themselves.