Penn State Head Coaching Search Focused On Boise State’s Chris Petersen

The search for Joe Paterno’s replacement as head football coach at Penn State is more than three weeks old, and the school has made two recent visits to Idaho that were likely attempts to convince Boise State head coach Chris Petersen to take the job, according to David Jones of The Patriot-News.  Jones reports, however, that little is known of what actually transpired on those visits.

A hire of Petersen would be an all-but-unquestioned win for the beleaguered football program.  Under Petersen, previously little-heralded Boise State has gone 73-6 in five years, and finished the 2011 season ranked seventh in the BCS standings.  But Petersen has no notable ties to Penn State, and — aside from this reported persistence on Penn State’s behalf — there is little reason to assume that he would join a program currently mired in the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal.

Jones further reports that Penn State’s second choice is current Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Munchak, who played his college ball at Penn State.  As with Petersen, though, there is little reason to assume that Munchak would leave his current job for the uncertainties of the current situation in State College.

According to Jones, the two smaller names in PSU’s search are Duke head coach David Cutcliffe and Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe.