For any coach who gets fired from a major university, it's probably bad news for Penn State. Again, as I look at the coaching situation around the nation, I still think there's reason to believe that Penn State is a better job than Florida and LSU.
In terms of program tradition, none of those are on the same level as Penn State. However, once we factor in that it's much easier to recruit in the South and that these programs are in the SEC, it might be tough to say that Penn State is a better job than schools like LSU and Florida, after LSU fired head coach Brian Kelly on Sunday night.
Some believe that programs like Penn State and others could run into an issue as they approach the coaching carousel. The Athletic had a great piece, with Stewart Mandel stating that there are too many job openings for schools to find the coach they want after all the decisions schools made.
“It’s not even Halloween yet, and already 12 FBS schools have axed their coaches, including blue bloods Penn State, Florida, and now LSU. A fourth, Florida State, could join the list by season’s end. And Stanford, UCLA, Arkansas, Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech have proud histories of their own. Wisconsin, Michigan State and perhaps Auburn could soon join the list...
“There are far more schools on the market this cycle than there are qualified candidates. LSU, Penn State, Florida and, if it opens, Florida State, will be looking to lure an elite coach who can win them a national championship. But there aren’t four elite coaches just hanging out on Indeed.com. There might not even be one,” he wrote.
The problem with a lot of this is that not only are these programs looking for a new head coach, but many of them are also paying their former head coach a ton of money. Penn State is paying James Franklin nearly $50 million not to be the head coach.
If money were an issue, I'd have to assume, which seems right, that Penn State and others wouldn't be making these decisions. However, money is still a factor, no matter how much some of these schools have.