For those awaiting the naming of Penn State’s next head coach, you’re going to have to wait at least another week for that announcement.
Interim head coach Tom Bradley, speaking on a video posted on the school’s official website, said a replacement for Joe Paterno will not be named until after the Nittany Lions’ bowl game. PSU will face Houston in the TicketCity Bowl Jan. 2, meaning a new sideline boss will not be known until at the midway point of next week at the earliest.
“We haven’t heard a thing about it,’' Bradley said of the coaching search. "[The search committee] said they weren’t going to decide until after the bowl game. … And we do know that.”
Bradley, quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno and defensive assistant Larry Johnson Sr. are current members of the coaching staff who have interviewed for the position. It’s highly unlikely any of those three are tabbed as Paterno’s replacement given their long-time connection to the former coach.
Chris Petersen is another “candidate” who’s highly unlikely as well; reportedly high on PSU’s coaching to-do list, the Boise State head coach has no interest in the job.
In an article posted Tuesday evening, the Patriot-News writes that "[h]igh-level donors have been buzzing as if [Tennessee Titans head coach Mike] Munchak’s hiring is a done deal.” An agent with coaches as clients texted the paper that “a lot of NFL people think it’s Munchak.”
Munchak, whose Titans are fighting for a berth in the playoffs, has publicly dismissed his name being connected to the opening at his alma mater.
Acting athletic director David Joyner, who heads the school’s search committee, said on Dec. 8 that they are working under a 30-day window to find the Nittany Lions’ permanent head coach, which means the fact that a new coach might not be hired until after the postseason game is not the least bit surprising.
Right now, Penn State is the only Div. 1-A school with an opening at head coach.