It remains uncertain what Penn State wants to do with its head coaching search, depending on the time Pat Kraft wants to hire a coach, and what exactly he’s going after. It feels safe to say that Penn State is in as good a position as nearly every team in the country to find a good head coach, but who will said coach be?

When searching for potential options, The Athletic came across an intriguing one that hasn't been discussed much. They listed Fran Brown, the head coach at Syracuse, as someone the Nittany Lions could be intrigued by this offseason. 

“Brown is a former assistant at Temple under Rhule (and Kraft) and a New Jersey native with recruiting ties that would absolutely appeal to Penn State. The problem is the Orange have fallen off hard after winning 10 games in Brown’s first season. Syracuse is 3-5, having lost four straight since a win over Clemson in which the Orange lost quarterback Steve Angeli to a season-ending injury.

“Brown might have a bright future as a head coach, but a blue blood hiring him coming off a season that fails to even reach a bowl game could be a tough sell,” Bruce Feldman wrote.

Prior to Steve Angelli going down, Syracuse looked to be one of the better teams in the ACC, and perhaps even a team that had a chance to make the CFP, depending on whether it could’ve won the conference. 

Fast forward a few weeks after his gruesome injury, and Syracuse has been very average. One could argue that the Orange have been one of the more disappointing P4 teams in the nation.

As Feldman stated, that isn't something that would help his case at Penn State, but the Nittany Lions and Krapt would also be taking that into consideration. 

Penn State knows better than anyone that injuries can derail a season, so it’d be a bit unfair to judge Brown too much.

When we also factor in just how much better the resources would be at Penn State, football-wise, compared to Syracuse, it'd be tough to argue against Brown potentially being a very good coach for the Nittany Lions.