The 2025 Penn State football season ended in smoke after high expectations for the Nittany Lions. They went all out this season, and after barely losing to Oregon in a whiteout, everything went off the rails, and James Franklin was fired. Now, with the regular season almost over, it looks like Penn State is getting closer to hiring its new head coach.
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College football analyst and insider, Josh Pate, said on his show that he believes Penn State has selected its next head coach after a lengthy search. He appears to be the Bob Chesney at head coach James Madison. Chesney is a Pennsylvania native, but worries it will be a significant jump for him into competition, since he has never coached at the power level.
Pate said, “That’s what I would say. I think they’ve been focused on their guy for the last several days. I think that guy might be Bob Chesney. I think that guy might be him. Now he’s not the only guy they’ve got an eye on here. I also don’t think he’s the only guy they would have gone well with in contract negotiations. Whoever they hire, they’ll claim he was the only guy they offered the job to. Everybody. “Does what it says.”
Penn State is keeping its options open, starting with interim head coach Terry Smith, especially considering the possibility that Chesney could coach in December and January if James Madison reaches the College Football Playoff. That schedule could hurt the Nittany Lions, and they might have to choose someone else.
Bob Chesney has made head coaching stops at Salve Regina, Assumption, Holy Cross and now James Madison, and while his rise has been rapid, he has no coaching experience at a power school. Making the jump from James Madison to coaching the Penn State football program would be significant, but not unprecedented.
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At 48 years old, Chesney is still relatively young and has a proven track record as a head coach, with a career record of 130–51 and a 2–0 bowl-game record.
The Penn State football program is built and doesn’t need dismantling. All the resources are there, and if Chesney is the guy, he can come in right away and bring energy to the program, especially as a Pennsylvania native.
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