Kevin McGuire, Nittany Lions WireWed, December 3, 2025 at 4:01 PM UTC·1 min readA day after officially striking out on a potential coaching hire, it seems another top coaching candidate for Penn State may be on the move to another job.
Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline, arguably the top coordinator to be considered a candidate for the Penn State job, is reportedly heading to South Florida to become the next head coach of the Bulls. CBS Sports was among the first to report on the expected coaching hire by USF, who is replacing Alex Golesh after his move to be the head coach at Auburn.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHartline woudl have been a good quality candidate for Penn State with his track record for offensive development, especially at the wide receiver position. Hartline has been a key recruiter for Ohio State as well. If Penn State was going to give the job to a coordinator with no head coaching experience, Hartline should have been the guy.
Instead, Penn State once again misses out on a coaching candidate that was there for the taking. Penn State officially missed out on a potential push for BYU head coach Kalani Sitake, leaving athletics director Pat Kraft running out of supposed options. This could all lead to good news for interim head coach Terry Smith, who is becoming the top candidate for the job just by the process of elimination.
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This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Another Penn State coaching candidate heading for another opportunity
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