Kevin McGuire, Nittany Lions WireMon, December 1, 2025 at 8:40 PM UTC·2 min readAs Penn State drags on with its search for a new head coach, the coaching carousel is spinning quickly. Now, one of the top candidates for the Penn State job may have been taken off the board by another Big Ten school.
UCLA is reportedly getting set to hire James Madison head coach Bob Chesney, one of the top names in the coaching carousel from the Group of Five programs. Chesney was the successor to Curt Cignetti at James Madison when Cignetti left to become the head coach at Indiana, and he has continued to keep the JMU program flying high. James Madison is getting set to play for the Sun Belt Conference championship this week, and a victory could manage to land the Dukes in the College Football Playoff with a little help from Duke in the ACC Championship Game.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementUCLA was one of the first schools to make a coaching change during the 2025 season, doing so before James Franklin was removed by Penn State (a week after UCLA dismantled Franklin's Nittany Lions). Michigan State also jumped on the coaching carousel this year with the removal of Jonathan Smith. Reports have suggested the Spartans will be hiring former Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald to be its next coach.
So when will Penn State make its move?
It could be in the process of doing just that. Multiple reports have suggested Penn State is ramping up discussions with BYU head coach Kalani Sitake as a potential candidate. If that is the case, then the timing of this decision may be waiting just a little bit longer. Sitake and BYU are playing in the Big 12 championship game this weekend. If Sitake is going anywhere, the news of that move may have to wait until after the Big 12 title game.
But for now, we sit and wait for more information and UCLA seems to have its guy.
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This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: UCLA coaching hire takes one option out of mix for Penn State
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