The Penn State Nittany Lions are still looking for a new head coach to replace James Franklin, and they have their eyes on a Big 12 coach for the position.
A few different reporters on Monday said the Nittany Lions were targeting Kalani Sitake to be their next head coach. Sitake has been the head coach at BYU since 2016 and has gone 83-44 over his 10 seasons with the Cougars. His BYU squad went 11-2 last season and is 11-1 this season. They are set to face Texas Tech in the Big 12 championship game on Saturday.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that there is “mutual interest” between Sitake and Penn State.
Sources: BYU coach Kalani Sitake is the focus of Penn State's head coaching search. No deal has been signed, as the sides continue discussions. The sides have met, and there's mutual interest. On3 reported Sitake as the target earlier today. pic.twitter.com/xbUUO4mxct
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 2, 2025
Many schools this week announced who their new head coach is. UCLA (Bob Chesney), Michigan State (Pat Fitzgerald), LSU (Lane Kiffin), Auburn (Alex Golesh), Arkansas (Ryan Silverfield), Florida (Jon Sumrall) and Stanford (Tavita Pritchard) all announced their hires within the last few days. Penn State is the last man standing of the big jobs, so to speak. Either they feel they can land Sitake, or they are not too worried about whom they will land.
Keep in mind that the Nittany Lions fired Franklin less than a year after he led them to the College Football Playoff semifinals.
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