Penn State Screwed Up So Badly In Coaching Search That It Could Actually Land Best Candidate In Matt Campbell

To say the Penn State coaching search has been a whirlwind since firing James Franklin would be an understatement. But, the Nittany Lions screwed up enough that they actually landed potentially the best candidate for the job, as Iowa State's Matt Campbell is finalizing an agreement to become the next head coach. 

After athletic director Pat Kraft decided to move on from Franklin, the search for his replacement led to plenty of coaches receiving contract extensions at their current schools, while Penn State kept checking off names on the list. 

Yahoo Sports was first to report the news. 

Then came a wild 48 hours in State College, where both Kalani Sitake and Jeff Brohm both turned down an offer from the school to become the new head coach. Rightfully, Nittany Lions fans were losing their minds over the prospects of hiring an offensive coordinator with zero head coaching experience to take over a program with national title aspirations. 

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But, fans in Happy Valley can now breathe a sigh of relief, thanks to others turning down the job. This forced AD Pat Kraft to make a bold move and target Iowa State's Matt Campbell, who has led the Cyclones to a 107-70 overall record as a head coach, and 72-55 during his time in Ames, Iowa. 

Although he doesn't have ties to Pennsylvania, he's no stranger to the area, having played football at Division III Mount Union (Ohio). He was also roommates with Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni, which has obviously helped with his ties to the NFL. 

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Honestly, this might be one of the best possible outcomes for Penn State, no matter how many other coaches decided to stay at their respective schools. For years, plenty of major programs have made a run at Campbell, only for him to turn them down and continue building Iowa State. 

The 46-year-old head coach led Iowa State to its only Big 12 title games in school history. Over the past few years, there has been interest from USC, the New York Jets and others, all looking to pry him away from an Iowa State football program that has mostly flourished under Campbell. 

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But, he'll have work to do once he arrives at State College, especially after the Nittany Lions signed only two recruits this week from the high school ranks. 

And while there will be plenty of fans who blame Pat Kraft for padding the pockets of opposing coaches over the past four weeks, he can hang his hat on the fact that while plenty of schools have tried to pluck Campbell from Iowa State, it was Penn State that finally got the job done. 

This has been a mess, there's no other way around it. But, there is now light at the end of this very long tunnel. 

After all the drama since firing James Franklin, it looks as though Penn State just hired the best head coach available. 

For that, the future looks a lot brighter in Happy Valley, compared to where we were more than 50 days ago.