I'm sure many remember that he was a leading candidate for the fans in the previous hiring cycle, given his affiliation with Debbie Yow.

1.) Gruden
2.) Mike McDaniels
3.) Franklin

That's my list.

10/13/2025 1:58:52 PM

Unless Goodnight has an epiphany and hands the FB program a blank check, DD will be our coach next season. No way Boo is going to go through a coaching search this year, there’s too much competition/movement. Or maybe he gets run off by the fan base and we end up with HC Roper.

10/13/2025 2:15:34 PM

The plan as I've always heard it was for DD to ride out CJB through his eligibility, which will be up next year. If CJB were to leave...who knows.

But I agree, I think it'll be at least one more year, especially if NCSU beats UNC and makes a bowl game. I think DD and Avent will retire about the same time.

[Edited on October 13, 2025 at 2:45 PM. Reason : g]

10/13/2025 2:45:17 PM

There’s gonna be (already is) some big name openings this cycle. I dunno if that’s enough of a reason to retain a coach or not. But…it would be pretty sweet to beat UNC and BB like 45-0 and then DD sail off into the sunset.

10/13/2025 2:56:10 PM

Didn't we retain him last time cause the competition from other teams?

10/13/2025 3:13:40 PM

It’s been several years since Doeren’s name was tied to another job. Ole Miss and Tennessee back in like 2017 or 2018 maybe.

10/13/2025 3:18:42 PM

These massive, long term buyouts are getting interesting in the NIL era. Is there anything to stop Franklin from going to a school and offering to coach their team for $1 the next 6 years while Penn State pays him ~8mil a year. And then use the millions the new school doesn't have to pay him to bump up his roster budget?

10/13/2025 3:27:35 PM

Yes, there's almost certainly language in his penn state contract that prevents that. I'm sure there's some offset in the buyout for any coaching job he takes and a requirement that he be paid fair market value. Taking a job for $1 would end up with Penn State suing to get out of the buyout and very likely winning. So yeah he's not going to do that.

Also, as a high profile coach do you really want to go to a school that can't commit to spending to the limit without cutting corners like that? That's not NIL money (which is essentially uncapped), those unpaid millions could only be used to reach the 20.5 million dollar limit used to pay athletes in all sports.

10/13/2025 3:44:07 PM

Quote :

"1.) Gruden"

lolololololololol

very on brand for you to want the racist Barstool personality

[Edited on October 13, 2025 at 4:09 PM. Reason : .]

10/13/2025 4:09:06 PM

^ I am really hoping his list was some kind of joke.

^^ Some coaches do just want to coach and not worry about the business bullshit though. With the 12 team playoff, a good coach with a pile of cash to spend on players could park themselves at a mid-tier school and make some nice runs at the playoffs while being worshipped by their fanbase.

But yeah, good point on the $1, even if they didn't have strong language in the contract around market value, they could probably make a good case that he's acting in bad faith or something. $1 is probably extreme, but the same principle could apply if he took, say a $4mil contract at a place that was gearing up to pay top dollar for a coach (like VT is blowing smoke about).

I also don't buy that if a school finds themselves with an extra $5mil over the "salary cap" that they wouldn't find a way to feed it to the players. But I guess we can assume in my hypothetical that schools play by the rules .

[Edited on October 13, 2025 at 4:23 PM. Reason : .]

10/13/2025 4:22:41 PM