On Sunday evening, Penn State and James Franklin made the somewhat surprising decision to part ways with wide receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield.
While Stubblefied's position group had quality success on the field over his tenure, the Nittany Lions' recruiting effort at the position in both the 2023 recruiting cycle and this offseason with the transfer portal.
The move is reminiscent of several coaching changes that Franklin has made in the past, including the transition from former offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarocca to current offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich as well as from former offensive line coach Matt Limegrover to current offensive line coach Phil Trautwein.
With that being said, there's a good chance that James Franklin at this point already has a strong idea of who will be the next wide receivers coach, whether that's a singular option or perhaps a short list of 2-3 names.
At this point, the inside information on where Penn State will turn is still limited, making it no better time to take a look at what names could be on Franklin's shortlist.
Notably, while not confirmed by Nittany Nation, there have been indications from a source that Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft may have been able to secure more money for James Franklin to work with in his assistant pool. This would make sense as Penn State also recently promoted co-offensive coordinator/running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider to also be an assistant head coach with the program as well.
Whether or not that additional money has been secured or not, money shouldn't be a major issue for Franklin this hiring. Even despite any potential increase in an assistant salary pool, the Nittany Lions' salary pool entering the offseason was among the top three in the Big Ten according to Pat Kraft.
All that being said, here is our wide receivers coach big board - version 1.
TOP NAMES TO KNOW....
All four of these names under would fall under the home run hires for James Franklin and his program. That being said, it will be hard for various reasons for Penn State to nab any of these four candidates.
