Penn State Football Head Coaching Search: News & Notes (11.5.25)

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We’re back for another week of coaching news and notes. Other than Matt Rhule, no notable coaches signed extensions and then lost another ranked game and just about everyone remains in play as Pat Kraft tosses out his wide net. We’ll discuss two new names this week, but as I say every week: be patient. Lot of games left to play.

Brent Key Buzz?

Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key has seen his name pop up in recent days for basically every open head coach position across the college football landscape. The Birmingham, Alabama native would be obvious fits at any of Florida, Auburn, or LSU, but could he possibly be an option for the Penn State job? There was peculiar private flight out of State College yesterday that arrived at Cobb County Airport which is just outside of Atlanta.

The private plane — which is registered to “Thoroughbred LLC” in State College — landed in Georgia at 12:06 p.m. and departed back for State College at 4:46 p.m. Why would a State College plane fly down to just outside of Atlanta for 4.5 hours? That’s something I can’t answer. But it’s interesting timing with Penn State looking for a football coach and Georgia Tech also on a bye week.

Regardless of the flight and it’s potential connection with Brent Key, it does give me a good reason to discuss Key for the first time since I put him on the 13-person Hot Board back on October 13.

The 47-year-old Key is in his third full season as Georgia Tech’s head coach, as he took over for Geoff Collins in the middle of the 2022 season after Collins went 10-28 through 3.5 years as the head man. Key won right away, going 4-4 as the interim with ranked wins over Pitt and North Carolina en route to getting the permanent job. Since then, Key’s gone 22-13 and is currently in the middle of his best season. The Yellow Jackets are 8-1 and ranked No. 17 in the CFP rankings.

One of the differentiating factors for Key is his offensive line background. He played the position at Georgia Tech, and coached it for a decade plus at UCF, Georgia Tech, and most notably Alabama, where he spent three seasons under Nick Saban from 2016-2018. Just as you would expect from a former offensive line coach, Key’s team carries a gritty, tough persona throughout the roster right on down to the quarterback who is often used as a battering ram.

Key wouldn’t come without questions. For one, there’s the cultural fit of a Southerner in the northeast, though the slow life of State College is a far cry from the hustle and bustle of the eastern seaboard’s cities. There’s also the question of how much of Key’s success is tied to “Hey, Haynes King, just do everything” and offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner. What does Key’s offense look like without his star QB and OC?

It remains to be seen if Key is even serious about leaving his alma mater. After all, he left Alabama to take a similar position at Georgia Tech, so his love for his school can’t be ignored. But if Key to Penn State is a realistic outcome, I think Nittany Lions fans should be happy. Key’s a strong culture setter who has a set-and-defined philosophy with proven results.

Plus, it’d be cool if our head coach could totally beat up every other head coach.

Back To The Vanderbilt Well?

A new name that popped up for Penn State last week was Clark Lea, the head coach at the previous institution Vanderbilt.

Oddly enough, like Key, Lea is at his alma mater. He’s been with the Dores since the 2021 season, when he parlayed three seasons as the Notre Dame defensive coordinator into the job. It took some time for Lea to get going at Vandy, with him holding a 9-27 record heading into the 2024 season. That’s when Lea brought in a trio from New Mexico State — QB Diego Pavia, OC Tim Beck, and Jerry Kill as a consultant — which turned around the program. The Commodores went 7-6 in 2024 and went to their first bowl game since 2018, and are now in the midst of one of the best seasons in the school’s history, currently having a 7-2 record and ranked No. 16 in the CFP.

While I think it’s understandable that Lea didn’t win right away at Vanderbilt — no one has, except for…well…James Franklin — I think the “quarterback merchant” shoe fits a bit better with him than it does Key. Does Lea deserve credit for bringing in a good player at the most important position? Sure, but Lea being on the hot seat after going 2-10 overall and 0-8 in conference in his third season seems like an important piece of the pie that shouldn’t be overlooked either.

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