Florida football: 5 realistic replacements for Dan Mullen in Gainesville

James Franklin may leave Penn State, but what Power Five job will he take?

Though he is a Pennsylvania native, the writing may already be on the wall for James Franklin in Happy Valley. The Penn State Nittany Lions got off to a hot start, but back-to-back losses to Iowa on the road and Illinois at home in nine overtimes seems to suggest his head may not be in it any more. He is arguably the top candidate for USC and may be in consideration for the LSU job, too.

It is established that Franklin can recruit. He won at an absurdly high level in the SEC East before at Vanderbilt. The ‘Dores have not been the same since he left for Penn State years ago. While Franklin is the type of coach who could have Florida contending for SEC Championships again, he may not want to go to a school that is second in its own division. Thus, the USC job is beckoning.

Nobody’s head-coaching stock is rising faster than Michigan State’s Mel Tucker

This is only Mel Tucker’s third season as a Power Five head coach, but he has the Michigan State Spartans at 8-0 and on top of the Big Ten entering November in his second season in East Lansing. Though he could be leading his third Power Five team in four years, there are a lot of schools that want to hire Tucker, including LSU, where he may be the top candidate for the Tigers.

What separates Tucker from Franklin is two-fold. One, he was a defensive coordinator in the NFL before coming back to college. And two, he has more recent recruiting ties in the southeast than Franklin. Plus, he will not be afraid to compete in the same conference that has Nick Saban and Kirby Smart coaching at the top of it.

Tucker can stay in East Lansing, go to Baton Rouge, or maybe even replace Mullen in Gainesville.

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