Penn State Interested in Chris Petersen: Why He'd Be Crazy to Consider the Lions

While schools all around the country are finding their coaches for the next college football season, Penn State has been quietly waiting for a strong candidate to emerge to replace Joe Paterno.

The Nittany Lions need someone who will continue the winning tradition he set but also who will run a clean program after everything that has happened regarding the investigation into former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

According to sources, the university may have found their ideal candidate in Boise State’s Chris Petersen. Not only has he taken his Broncos from obscurity to a national power in a decade, but he boasts the second highest graduation rate in major college football. The top school is Penn State.

But that doesn’t mean he would or should accept any offer the school throws at him.

A year ago, being the head coach at Penn State was a prestigious and something that was highly sought after but now it is an absolute disaster zone. Not only does the coach have to worry about winning in one of the toughest conferences in the country in the Big Ten but he also has to deal with the massive media scrutiny that now comes with the job.

Any mistake he makes, no matter how small, will get blown up in the media because of the child abuse that took place. Is it fair? Not in the slightest, the people who are involved have been fired and/or being prosecuted by the courts but it is the unfortunate reality the Penn State football program will be in starting this offseason.

But perhaps what is more important is new university president Rodney Erickson’s comments about the football program. "We need to refocus the spotlight on those things and de-emphasize the spotlight on athletics," he said though he did add that a de-emphasis does not equate to "damaging" the program.

How exactly does one take emphasis away from athletics without seriously damaging the program? There really is no logical answer that I can come up with for that.

Petersen is one of the hottest commodities in college football and he has been courted by nearly every major program in the country. With everything that is going on at Penn State and what could happen during Erickson’s time as president, there is absolutely no reason for him to go to Happy Valley.