Carnival Act in State College.

[The Ancient Enemy]

I'll try to keep this short.

What is transcribing in Happy Valley is nothing short of a carnival act. I keep posting in the Lions Den "50 Names in 50 Days" and being a smart *** every time these god-awful names pop up.

Ya know, when Millen was named on that search committee, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Everyone else was laughing because this guy is such a moron and has such a piss-poor track record. But I figured, "Well, he's a Penn State guy, maybe he'll have his head on straight." I was terribly naive and terribly wrong.

You guys probably dont even know about half of these names.

Penn State has reached out to a number of candidates already. As soon as Joe was fired, Al Golden's name pops up. Yes, the same Al Golden who was on the PSU staff very briefly, turned Temple into a winner. But it is the same Al Golden who is in the hottest recruiting area in the nation and can't recruit or win at Miami. It is the mark of a coach to come into a new situation and win with what he has available already. Normally, even though he doesnt have his "own" players, you see flashes of what is to come when he finally gets his own guys. Miami is a complete disaster and their season was a joke. But Penn State fanatics still want Golden.

Golden got a huge extension, he's not leaving.

Then PSU reaches out to Mike London at UVA. A Virginia guy, London won a national title at Richmond. He's a great coach and beat PSU in a number of head to head recruiting battles. He has no ties to Penn State or PA, at all. He did not even want to talk to the search committee on the phone when they called. Chasing him was idiotic.

Then we start hearing about Urban Meyer and Tony Dungy. Meyer used Penn State to leverage Ohio State, and did a masterful job. He'll win national titles there because they accept anyone into their university and Penn State does not. Hey, that's the way it goes, best of luck to him. Dungy is hands down the perfect guy for this PSU job, and he doesn't want it.

Then Dan Mullen pops up. Then Dan Mullen signs a contract extension.

As in Penn State's recruiting, we are now down to Plan E or Plan F.

Tim Murphy's name pops up, the head coach at Harvard. Wow, an Ivy League guy! Fans are swooning...

Murphy was the former Cincinnati coach. Paterno beat him 81-0. NEXT?

Tom Clements. Okay, nice resume. NO HEAD COACHING EXPERIENCE. He is older than Bradley. NEXT.

Mike Munchak. Are you serious?

Paul Cryst comes up. Oops, too late.

Then the idiots on the committee (Joyner and Millen) literally contact Bill Parcells to gauge his interest. I don't even know where to start making fun of this. He tells them to call Eric Mangini. So they do. Mangini and Penn State are "Stay Tuned" at this point. Kill me now.

Mario Cristobal very, very briefly comes up. Fans do't want him, he's Hispanic. Even though the guy is an outspoken Paterno fan. Still, no ties to PA in any form, but they don't want him b/c of his color, which is very troubling.

Larry Johnson and Tom Bradley go through courtesy interviews and are ushered to the bottom of the stack.

Who have I forgotten?

Oh yeah, Mark Richt. Yep.

So while we play this game and this drags out longer and longer, our commits are fleeing. It took Pitt about a week to get their man. They did an excellent job and found a quality guy. I would have rather seen Cristobal or Bradley get hired there, but that's irregardless.

Here are the people I feel should be (and should have been) contacted all along.

Mike Sherman - Knows where he made mistakes. Great hire
Mario Cristobal
Herm Edwards - Dungy guy, only more assertive. I would like to see that at Penn State.
Jim Caldwell - Big Dungy guy, former PSU staff member.
Turner Gill - Awful decision to go to Kansas, but already hired at Liberty.
Dave Doeren - No Illinois head coach, won MAC in first season, young guy.

I'll think of more later, but there are 6 guys who should be contacted and pursued. Dungy is my number one choice but he doesn't want it.

Such a mess.

[KirkHerbstreit]

I have access to the pay boards. I think it will be a hire that will surprise some given the current situation. I don't buy the Munchak talk nor would I want it. In my opinion that is Penn State viewing there own higher than people outside of UnHappy Valley.

In this situation, it is tough to way what is legitimate and what is not. I think in any other year Penn State could have any coach they wanted. Right now, that does not seem possible. However, I do think at some point when the smoke clears someone will take the chance.

There are two rumors that I would love to turn out true. The first is that Chip Kelly has a clause in his contract that he cannot leave the university until after it's bowl game nor can it be announced. I think this would be a home run for recruiting.

The other which I am hearing rumors are flying today in boise is that Chris Petersen may be the guy. I'd love this and it would also be a home run for recruiting.

That being said, it will probably end up being Glen Mason or Tom Clements. Either would make me take a PSU nap for about 5 years.

[Eaglealum]

Early on I heard James Franklins' (Vandy) name pop up; but not once since. He'd be an incredible hire IMO. Vandy is a high academic school with higher standards, you won't get the kind of recruits to compete in the SEC. In his 1st year, Vandy lost 34-0 to BAMA, but all others were close, lost in ot @ Tenn. by 5 to Georgia after they caught fire, by 5 to Florida, and 3 to Arkansas...They crushed everyone in the winnable games and they are in a bowl game in his 1st year. Why isn't Franklin at the top of someones' list?