Penn State Football: 5 Coaching Candidates That Would Crumble Under the Pressure

The next coach of Penn State is inheriting a high-pressure, no-win situation.

The university is currently being rocked by the most highly scrutinized scandal that college football has ever seen.

This has cast all eyes on Penn State. People are watching as the university tries to earn back credibility and public trust.

The jobs of almost everyone at Penn State are going to ride on the success of their efforts to rebuild the reputation of the university.

Which means the next coach is going to have countless eyes looking over his shoulder.

He will not only have to deal with unprecedented levels of scrutiny, he will have to lead a football program that suddenly finds itself a nearly impossible sale to recruits.

What player is going to want to go to the university that is now infamous for being an alleged haven for child molesters?

This is going to make success on the football field nearly impossible.

These factors combine to make this the most pressure-filled job in college football.

Penn State is a big money program. We can expect them to have a long list of well qualified candidates. They may even try to lure away coaches that are already employed by dangling big money contracts.

However, few people are equipped to handle this. And the next five certainly are not.

Rich Rodriquez

Rich Rodriguez left his nearly no-pressure job at West Virginia for the bright lights and high pressure of Michigan.

His move was a failure. Rodriguez was let go by Michigan after compiling a 15-22 record. His tenure at Michigan was marred by incidents, proving he is not equipped to handle big time pressure.

This was never more apparent than during the Wolverines' postseason banquet following Rich Rod's final game.

This description of the scene comes to us via ESPN.

"He surprised supporters and his players at the team's postseason banquet when he broke down and cried, talking about the toll his job had on his family, then quoted the Bible and Josh Groban and played a song from the musician in a surreal scene."

Definitely not the scene involving a coach prepared to handle big time pressure.

Ron Zook

Ron Zook knows jobs that come with high pressure. He just doesn't know how to succeed in them.

Zook took over the Florida Gators after iconic coach Steve Spurrier jumped ship to the NFL.

Expectations for Zook were enough to raise the pressure bar through the roof. Not helping matters was the fact that within a day of his hiring, a website called FireRonZook.com was started.

Zook fell short of expectations and was fired after three seasons. His tenure at Florida featured numerous fourth quarter comebacks against his squad.

A tell-tale sign the coach is not good under pressure.

Zook again finds himself on the hot seat at Illinois.

The State Journal-Register is now reporting that Zook is likely to get canned following this season.

Zook has filled his tenure at Illinois with a memorable press conference. The press conference attached shows an easily rattled Zook not handling the pressure of the press well.

He would be a disaster at Penn State.

Mike Gundy

Mike Gundy may be a man, and he may be 40 but he does not handle media scrutiny well.

He tends to have a bit of a short fuse.

There is certainly no doubting his coaching skills. Gundy has turned the Cowboys into a national power. It would likely cost Penn State a record contract if they were going to pry him away from Oklahoma State.

But that would not be a wise move.

Gundy's head may literally pop off his head if he has to deal with the scrutiny that would come with the Penn State program.

He would find far-ranging criticisms of his program—and those involved with the program—that absolutely dwarfs anything he has had to deal with at Oklahoma State.

Urban Meyer

Take the stress out of the job, and Urban Meyer would be an ideal fit for Penn State. He is a master recruiter and has an excellent eye for talent to fit his spread option offense.

He could piece together a competitive team, despite the inevitable problems Penn State will have recruiting.

However, you can't take the stress out of this job and that stress is far too great for Meyer.

This is a man that at the end of 2009 announced he would be taking a leave of absence from Florida after being hospitalized with chest pains and dehydration.

He returned to the Gators' sideline in 2010 but retired after that season. He cited health concerns and the desire to have more time with his family as reasons.

The task of taking over the Nittany Lions is going to be a daunting one. It will essentially be a 24/7 job.

This would be far too taxing for Meyer's health and time with his family.

Rick Neuheisel

Rick Neuheisel thought he loved pressure. He thought wrong.

Soon after taking over coaching duties at UCLA, the school ran an ad in the Los Angeles Times and L.A. Daily News that featured a big picture of him under a bold headline saying, "The Football Monopoly in Los Angeles is Officially Over."

Neuheisel has done nothing in his tenure to support these claims.

He has floundered under the pressure of trying. Rick sports an uninspiring 19-26 record at UCLA.

Things have not progressed, either. UCLA has played some solid games this year, but they have also had some miserable outings.

As you can see from the attached video.

And if you watched the video, you know those touchback power-ups, flawless huddles, top notch hustling and clean snap trophies just aren't going to cut it at Penn State.