Coaching Carousel

[Dale]

Virginia Tech landing James Franklin in all honesty would probably be the hire of the cycle. Has recruited area for 20 years. Gets out of B1G. Va Tech has insinuated they want to make a NIL splash for the new hire.

 

[irishff1014]

Virginia Tech landing James Franklin in all honesty would probably be the hire of the cycle. Has recruited area for 20 years. Gets out of B1G. Va Tech has insinuated they want to make a NIL splash for the new hire.

VT has been down for a while, this would definitely help them. If it was early enough he would be able to take some recruits with him.

 

[Sea Turtle]

 

[DomeFieldAdvantage]

Don't know if the name was brought up already, but I have seen Fran Brown mentioned as someone who could be a good fit from an area recruiting perspective. And I've heard that several times before today, but only now did I put 2 and 2 and 2 together.

1) Fran Brown could potentially be the Penn State coach.

2) New coaches often bring the good players from their old teams now.

3) Drew Allar is out of eligibility and I don't think they have a slam dunk next QB on the roster.

Add all of that together and the question arises:

Will we see Steve Angeli as the Penn State starting QB in 2026?

 

[arndtjc]

Go Irish!
Go Hoosiers!

 

[Dale]

Don't know if the name was brought up already, but I have seen Fran Brown mentioned as someone who could be a good fit from an area recruiting perspective. And I've heard that several times before today, but only now did I put 2 and 2 and 2 together.

1) Fran Brown could potentially be the Penn State coach.

2) New coaches often bring the good players from their old teams now.

3) Drew Allar is out of eligibility and I don't think they have a slam dunk next QB on the roster.

Add all of that together and the question arises:

Will we see Steve Angeli as the Penn State starting QB in 2026?

Don’t see Cuse making a bowl anymore. Hard to sell that as your 50 million dollar buyout hire

 

[irishff1014]

Call me crazy
If Clemson and Dabo decided to split I think he might be a better hire than Rhule.

 

[DomeFieldAdvantage]

Don’t see Cuse making a bowl anymore. Hard to sell that as your 50 million dollar buyout hire

Probably, but maybe Fran Brown doesn't get as big of a contract and it could be sold as putting more towards the roster.

I don't really believe that and I don't think it will be Fran Brown, but that thought of Angeli at PSU did pop into my head when I heard it brought up again. Kind of just crazy that there is a non-zero chance it happens.

 

[ulukinatme]

Call me crazy
If Clemson and Dabo decided to split I think he might be a better hire than Rhule.

 

[Bane]

 

[LifelongFan]

Penn State is slightly better than IU entirely because of the recruiting base nearby being so much better. At this point it is very close with the investment IU has made. Why stop a good thing? This isn't Washington to Bama.

 

[Irish2155]

All good points re: Cig.

The one counter point that stuck out, is that small ass stadium in Bloomington. 57,00 sell out is much different than 100k+. Cig can’t fix that overnight

 

[GowerND11]

All good points re: Cig.

The one counter point that stuck out, is that small ass stadium in Bloomington. 57,00 sell out is much different than 100k+. Cig can’t fix that overnight

Counter the counter: if Indiana regresses, which we assume it will... Cig should be safe if they go 8-4 a couple times there.

 

[stlnd01]

Counter the counter: if Indiana regresses, which we assume it will... Cig should be safe if they go 8-4 a couple times there.

Counter cubed: If the argument for Indiana being a comparable job to Penn State boils down mainly to lower expectations/smaller stage, it is not a comparable job. At least not from the perspective of an insanely competitive and successful football coach.

 

[Bane]

Counter cubed: If the argument for Indiana being a comparable job to Penn State boils down mainly to lower expectations/smaller stage, it is not a comparable job. At least not from the perspective of an insanely competitive and successful football coach.

Correct. Pressure is a privilege.

 

[Dale]

Florida fans also circling Freeman (and Kiffin)

 

[Bane]

Florida fans also circling Freeman (and Kiffin)

Everyone looking for a coach would take Freeman, but he’s not on the market. Kiffin should be their guy. He should have been their guy last go round but there were personal drama issues that have since been resolved (Kiffin got back with his ex wife who is a connected UF alum).

 

[Huntr]

Florida fans also circling Freeman (and Kiffin)

They'll get Kiffin and like it.

Someone needs to get Golesh, but UF ain't doin 2 G5 guys in a row.

 

[Jimmy3Putt]

I’d never say it’s impossible after seeing coaches leave, but Freeman actually going somewhere has to be around 1%, right?

 

[greyhammer90]

Florida fans also circling Freeman (and Kiffin)

Can't imagine Freeman jumping ship from what he's building here for anywhere but OSU. I guess there's a chance there's some internal friction nobody is aware of, but everything you read is how much the administration and movers at ND love Freeman and are essentially giving him whatever he says he wants. We're also apparently outspending UF and PSU in NIL.

 

[Bane]

Yeah I mean anything is possible but Freeman is in a much different situation than BK when he jumped ship. Freeman has everything rolling here and leaving would mean starting over and rebuilding his culture.

The rumors are annoying and will only get more annoying once NFL jobs start really coming open.

 

[Henges24]

Freeman’s name being thrown around for FL has me a bit sick to my stomach…ngl.

 

[notredomer23]

No coach is leaving what they have returning next year. A Heisman favorite QB, 8 starters on defense, at least 4 out of 5 OL. No way. Not just ND. Any job that is paying competitively is going to retain their coach in that set up.

 

[Huntr]

Freeman’s name being thrown around for FL has me a bit sick to my stomach…ngl.

Why?

He's not going to Florida.

And if he did, he wouldn't be the guy you thought he was, so why would you mourn him leaving then?

 

[NotKoon]

Freeman’s name being thrown around for FL has me a bit sick to my stomach…ngl.

This is what it's like to have the young, dynamic, charismatic young coach. He's so damn likeable everyone just wishes he could be theirs. Having to deal with this is just the price of success. FWIW Godfrey yesterday said that if you're Penn or Florida you have to call Freeman and Lanning, knowing it ain't going to happen, but this way you can go back to your fanbase and say you swung for the fences

 

[MPClinton22]

It's a different world than a few years ago when the SEC would throw bags at players and hoard talent in a way no one else could compete with. There's no meaningful benefit to being in the SEC anymore - and it's interesting watching SEC fans have to adjust to that reality.

Can anyone even give a legitimate benefit to the Florida job over ND?

 

[dublinirish]

Freeman’s name being thrown around for FL has me a bit sick to my stomach…ngl.

Bedwetting?? in this economy??

 

[Henges24]

Why?

I wanted Freeman as the next HC after BK since he’s been at ND. Would suck to lose him to a shitty SEC team.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

It's a different world than a few years ago when the SEC would throw bags at players and hoard talent in a way no one else could compete with. There's no meaningful benefit to being in the SEC anymore - and it's interesting watching SEC fans have to adjust to that reality.

Can anyone even give a legitimate benefit to the Florida job over ND?

Interesting, as in pretty damn great. LOL.

Going into 2026, I can't really think of a benefit that UF has over ND. I suppose they don't have ND's academic requirements. Otherwise, Look at the top recruits in the state for this class.

2026 Top Football Recruits in Florida

The 247Sports rankings are determined by our recruiting analysts after countless hours of personal observations, film evaluation and input from our network of scouts.

247sports.com

Everyone recruits everywhere now.

 

[Bane]

UF is a great job and the right guy there can dominate, but it’s not better than ND at the moment and Freeman would be foolish to jump ship. ND is a better program and better set up for success currently.

I still think Florida ends up with Kiffin when it’s all said and done.