Penn State Football: Urban Meyer and Greg Schiano Are Out, Who's the Top Target?

It sounds like Penn State can cross two coaching candidates off their list, following rumors that Urban Meyer is about to become the next head coach at Ohio State and the quote from Greg Schiano saying that he’s not interested.

Meyer and Schiano were thought to be two top potential coaching targets for Penn State, but now it sounds like school officials will have to turn their attention elsewhere.

So, who will they look to?

It’s too early to tell exactly who they’re targeting, but there are some sensible candidates.

On the night Joe Paterno was fired, I wrote up this list of the 10 best coaching candidates to replace him. It included names like Pat Fitzgerald, Al Golden, Kevin Sumlin and Chris Petersen—four widely respected coaches that the school could definitely consider.

Fitzgerald and Golden are the two best fits out of that group.

Fitzgerald is familiar with the Big Ten and he’s done some great work at Northwestern in one of the toughest jobs in the country. Plus, he’s only 36-years-old and he could inject some much needed youth and vibrancy to a program that seemed to age right along with Joe Paterno.

The only thing is, Fitzgerald probably won’t want to leave his alma mater.

That could mean that Golden might grab the attention of the Nittany Lions.

The former Penn State tight end rebuilt Temple and then went down to Miami and proved that he could navigate a team that’s been rocked by a major scandal.

Those are two major accomplishments that should definitely stick out to a school like Penn State right now.

Unless he makes a firm statement stating his commitment to Miami, Golden is definitely going to be one of the buzz names surrounding the Penn State job for the next few months.

Personally, if I were running the Penn State coaching search, the one coach I would look at is Dave Doeren at Northern Illinois.

The former Wisconsin defensive coordinator may not be a big coaching name like Urban Meyer, but he’s young and he’s got the right attitude and personality to succeed at a school like Penn State. Plus, he’s guided the Huskies to an 8-3 record in his first year as head coach. He's at least got some semblance of a track record.

Ultimately, it will be interesting to see what caliber of coach Penn State is able to reel in.

Will it be a big-name coach with a proven track record, or an off-the-radar young upstart who’s looking for a challenge? 

This is a crucial decision for Penn State to make, and it’s one that could potentially affect the program for the next decade.