Urban Meyer Penn State: Landing Marquee Coach a Pipe Dream for PSU

For the first time since 1965, Penn State is looking for a new head coach for its football team.

In light of the scandal surrounding former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, the near riot that ensued after Joe Paterno was fired and the potential instability on campus, a new football coach isn't really a relevant problem.

But the fact remains, they are going to need to bring in a new coach for 2012 and beyond. Who will it be?

Ray Fittipaldo of The Republic named former Florida coach Urban Meyer as a potential candidate.

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Urban Meyer will go to work Saturday afternoon at Beaver Stadium as an analyst for ESPN, providing color commentary for the game against Nebraska. The question everyone seems to be asking today is whether Meyer will be going to work at Beaver Stadium next season as Penn State's new head football coach.

Meyer is on the short list of potential candidates to succeed legendary coach Joe Paterno, who was fired by Penn State trustees Wednesday night. Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley will serve as interim coach.

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He added: 

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Penn State has several highly qualified in-house candidates, but the new coach likely will have no previous ties to the football program.

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For the record, I agree with Fittipaldo. I can't see a way that the new coach will have anything to do with the 2011 Nittany Lions. I've previously said that no big-name coach should want anything to do with Penn State. 

Meyer certainly qualifies. 

But let's look into this a little more specifically. 

What does Meyer have to gain? Well, obviously, he would make a lot of money, but I have a hard time believing that is a serious concern for him at this point. 

If he comes in and brings the program back to where it was during the best years of Joe Paterno's tenure, he would certainly look good. Meyer has already won two National Championships. So, if he wins another National Championship and helps restore the pride of the Penn State program, his image would only go up.

But what are the chances of this happening? Think about this for a second. Is this scandal going to do anything to help recruiting? No, it will probably significantly hurt recruiting. 

Even if that only happens for a class or two, then the Nittany Lions will be competing against teams like Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio State and Nebraska (just to name a few) with an under-talented class of players.

That will show up in their record. Meyer is a great coach, but that's an awful lot to overcome. 

The name sounds great for the Penn State faithful, but this is just not a realistic goal. Penn State is not a great job right now. 

That's not to say that it never will be again. I don't believe that.

But the next few seasons are going to be rough. If Meyer ever does coach the Nittany Lions, my guess is that it will be after whoever Paterno's permanent replacement is.