Analyst suggests surprising coordinator to be new Penn State coach

The Penn State Nittany Lions are officially out of the James Franklin business.

Franklin was fired over the weekend after Penn State’s third-straight loss, and second-straight that nobody saw coming. PSU has lost to Oregon (makes sense), UCLA and Northwestern (didn’t make sense). Those last two losses were enough to earn Franklin a pink slip midway through his 12th season with the Nittany Lions.

Now, there are huge questions surrounding the program, but none bigger than this: Who will be Penn State’s next head coach.

Some big names are being thrown around as potential options for the Nittany Lions, but Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt, while naming some of the coaches that you’d expect, dropped a coordinator’s name that seemingly came out of left field.

Klatt believes Ohio State Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator Brian Hartline should be an option for Penn State.

“I think Brian Hartline is going to be an incredible head coach, and he will be a head coach at some point in his career,” Klatt said on Monday on his podcast (h/t On3). “I don’t know if it’s right now. I don’t know what level of job that he’s going to ultimately get, but I do know one thing, this guy is the best recruiter at his position group over the last 10 years, and it’s not close.”

Brian Hartline would be an intriguing option for Penn State Nittany Lions

This would be an extremely interesting fit for Penn State.

Yes, there is a massive risk involved. Hartline is a former Ohio State and NFL wideout who parlayed his playing career into a great assistant role with the Buckeyes. He started at OSU as a quality control assistant in 2017 and worked his way up to offensive coordinator. 

Hartline has never been a head coach, though.

Still, he’s known as one of the best position coaches in college football, and as Klatt said, he’s one of the best recruiters in the sport. 

He’s played a vital role in recruiting and developing players like Jeremiah Smith, Emeka Egbuka, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Marvin Harrison Jr., and others.

Ideally, Hartline could bring that kind of firepower to Penn State if the Nittany Lions thought he’d be able to step up and lead a program.

Coaches like Indiana’s Curt Cignetti, Nebraska’s Matt Rhule and Duke’s Manny Diaz will all be mentioned for this job, and for good reason, but keep an eye out for Hartline as a potential sleeper.