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Common approach with different levels of NIL support.
Does Penn St hire Rhule
- Thread starter Tyneb23
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Does Penn St hire Rhule
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It's every major program with NIL.
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There is no speculation regarding CMB, or Payton Tolle.
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Yes the strategy is the same however the NIL total funding per year is different between schools.
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Earth shattering!
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What is our current yearly NIL and rev share commitment for football?
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Neither question deals with my response.
OmahaHusler
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A family member of mine works in the media. Of course things can change but He told me that is if Nebraska wants Matt Rhule as its coach Matt Rhule will be Nebraska’s coach. Basically if we give more NIL and few other items he is not gong anywhere
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It’s ok if you don’t know. Probably not many don’t. The board would like to know to see if Rhule is blowing smoke or has a point.
king_kong_
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Rev share should be 100%
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Not a chance in hell NU, currently, has a $30M to $40M NIL budget and Rhule blows smoke signaling we don't. Quickest way to piss off the donors is to lie publicly about something. Rhule is way too good with his words.
You may have missed the part where I responded we're in the 12-18 range for NIL budgets. And yes, that's an opinion.
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What would you say the number would be in the 12-18 range?
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perfect. cignetti will be at PSU, the maryland QB will be at Miami. Ohio State will be hating life cause they lost to Michigan again. Cockeye's Cockeye and Michigan State, Rutgers and Washington can bend the knee.
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I wouldn't be surprised if someone throws a bunch of money at Jed Fisch, particularly if they can make it a package deal with Williams
If PSU offers him the job he will take it. 100%. It really is his dream job. I do think he is happy here but that job is the one he can't pass up.
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This is my feeling, everyone should have the opportunity to realize their dream, I’d be bummed if he left because I think he’s a great coach, I’d be happy for him as the person
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Sounds like PSU is a shitty job.Inside Pat Kraft’s Decision: How NIL, the Transfer Portal, and Money in the Penn State Locker Room Ended the Franklin Era
by: Thomas Frank Carr3 hours agoThomasFrankCarr
Read In App
Penn State Athletic Director Pat Kraft is not a subtle man. The former Big Ten linebacker had a podium placed in the middle of the Beaver Stadium dias where former head coach James Franklin sat for 12 years. Kraft, an exuberant and bombastic individual, preferred to stand and deliver his remarks. Yet the longer Kraft spoke, the less it seemed the team’s 3-3 record was in the overall decision.
“We want someone who honors our tradition but isn’t afraid to evolve,” Kraft said while delivering his opening remarks.
He went on to outline the resume he’s looking for in the next Nittany Lions head coach, and in that relief, we began to learn the underpinnings of his decision to move on from Franklin. To explain that, we need to go back to another blunt and forthright comment Kraft made in February.
The transfer portal and NIL were a sticking point for Penn State
In January, Kraft spoke to media members after the Beaver Stadium press box felling inside the Pegula Ice Arena media room. When asked about his football team and NIL, Kraft didn’t mince words, sending a signal to players and agents nationwide.
“We all know we need wide receiver help, so we gotta go find one. I think we have some really good ones in the building, but everyone knows. This isn’t a secret. So you go find that. You got to trust that process,” he said.
The thing is, Penn State had already recruited two receivers out of the portal. USC’sKyron Hudon and Troy’s Devonte Ross were on campus and working with the team in January and most of February before Kraft’s declaration.
Yet a few months later, the team picked up Syracuse wide receiver Trebor Penaout of the portal an hour before the Blue-White Game. With a massive retention of talent in the Class of 2022, returning for its senior season, plus three receivers, Penn State had won the offseason. Days later, the team went aggressively after a linebacker, adding North Carolina’sAmare Campbell to fill a hole left by Ta’Mere Robinson’s departure. Just like that, Penn State had a new starting middle linebacker for the coming season.
The results did not add up
Kraft mentioned the portal and its importance when discussing the kinds of conversations he’ll have with candidates in his upcoming search.
“This is also about the modern era of college football. Our next coach needs to be able to maximize elite-level resources, attack the transfer portal, and develop at the highest level.”
The key term is “at the highest level.” While there’s no perfect formula for the impact of the transfer portal on a team each year, it’s clear that Penn State was not recruiting the portal at that level under Franklin. In fact, Franklin had made it a habit of referencing his organization as “not a big portal team.”
The results of that viewpoint were becoming clearer over time.
For reference, here’s the list of Big Ten Teams ahead of Penn State in the 2025 transfer portal rankings, despite the team’s efforts to sign more players this offseason.
- Oregon: 4th
- Rutgers: 9th
- Ohio State: 10th
- Michigan: 11th
- Indiana: 14th
- Michigan State: 21
- Nebraska: 22
- UCLA: 23
- Maryland: 32
- Penn State: 35
Penn State On3 composite portal rankings
If we look back, it’s clear that Kraft’s call for “elite” portal recruiting was not met, at least under the On3 composite portal rankings.
Of course, the wide receivers are a flashpoint in this conversation. They’ve been the program’s biggest consistent weakness for years now. On the surface, it’s very simple: Penn State did not identify the right players to add in the transfer portal this offseason. With all due respect to cornerback, Penn State has not recruited a position harder or tried to fix with more resources than receiver via the portal.
- 2022: 27th
- 2023:43rd
- 2024:45th
- 2025: 35th
Let’s zero in on the position one final time. The team decided to rebuild its receiver room in aggregate this year, recruiting three players. Should the team have gone all-in on just one or two? An impact freshman or a truly dominant portal player might have changed the team’s fortunes at a critical moment. So far, Pena, Hudson, and Ross have failed to be the answer, regardless of how you feel about the rest of the team’s performance.
- WR: 8
- OL: 6
- CB: 5
- DE: 4
- DT: 3
- K/P: 3
- LB: 1
- Saf: 1
However, to do that, Penn State would have needed to change its approach and philosophy to the pay structure of its roster.
Allocation of resources, or lack of resources?
Kraft mentioned “elite” resources at Penn State and the need to find a coach capable of leveraging them to win a national championship.
Of course, he’s talking about money.
Money is at the crux of this issue in several ways, but we’ll get to that in a minute. For now, we’ll focus on the results of that resource. Firstly, it’s fair to say that Kraft is simultaneously explaining the need to move on from Franklin and trying to position his school in the best possible light to attract the best possible candidate.
It would not be helpful to admit the team has a shortfall in money to compete with Ohio State, Oregon, or the other big spenders in NIL and player acquisition. But it is fair to question the notion that Franklin had elite resources at his disposal during his tenure with the Nittany Lions.
Penn State recruiting affected by resource pinch
However, Kraft alluded to the program’s trajectory beyond the team’s 3-3 record this year and the cratering from the second-ranked team in the country to unranked in just three short weeks. The decision was beyond the on-field results. However, the on-field results were informed by the off-field trajectory.
“I weigh everything when I make a decision, the PhD nerd to me is like, I do data, I do analysis, I look at analytics, I look at everything. And when you start to look at where we’re going, and, yes, how this year had been playing out, all those things you have to take into consideration.”
Recruiting had been Franklin’s strong suit as a coach. In the past two years, NIL had bullied its way further into the conversation, and Penn State was getting bullied out of contention for upper-level talent.
This summer, Blue White Illustrated analyzed Penn State’s acquisition of top-150 recruits since 2022. The transition was clear in the data.
“It’s about where are we as a program. Where are we going?”
- Penn State top 150 talent from 2022-2024: 18
- Penn State top 150 talent from 2025-2026: 3
Apparently, the program’s overall trajectory beyond the field was not in Franklin’s favor, as he struggled to adapt to the aggressive nature of NIL in college football.
The James Franklin culture at Penn State
Now, to fully understand, we need to know where Franklin deployed his resources. BWI has done an excellent job of outlining Franklin’s philosophy with NIL. Here’s a brief summary
“Culture” at Penn State was a real thing under Franklin. Parents, players, and staff felt included in the process, and it was truly a family atmosphere. It’s something that Kraft acknowledged in February while pushing for more in the portal.
- Take care of the current roster to prevent poaching
- Offer competitive NIL to recruits with the promise of more when earned with performance
- Targeted NIL in the transfer portal, but not to the level of upsetting the established players on the roster
- Selective aggression for top high school targets
“I think James has done an absolute masterful job, and I think it’s a testament, going back to the staff, to what he’s done to build that culture in that building of like, we’re all in this together and family, and, I mean, look at how many people have left. I mean, it’s, it’s truly remarkable.”
Unfortunately, family, togetherness, and culture only get you so far when the results on the field are waning.
The final factor: Money in the locker room
Yet if the team had been winning this year, the change would have never happened.
The decisions that Franklin made on the highest levels have trickle-down effects, but the goal was to protect and stabilize the locker room. Despite that effort, the team never looked coherent and cohesive in the first six weeks of the 2025 season. The offense struggled, and the defense gave up too many rushing yards. This comes in light of Penn State spending a hefty sum to retain its seniors and make a national championship run. The facts don’t add up.
During his opening statement, interim coach Terry Smith vowed to re-establish the team’s identity.
“We need to get back to enjoying ball, being tough, gritty, and passionate. Our players and staff will respond with great energy this week, as I’m excited for the opportunity to lead everyone in the Lasch building.”
Smith answered several questions in a similar fashion, saying that the team needed to regain its grit, toughness, and swagger.
So, a valid question arises. What caused the team to lose those traits in the first place?
“There’s a number of reasons. You know, we’re in a new era of football. And you know, like Pat said, you know, you have to navigate everything about it. NIL. There’s money in the locker room. Of bringing 125 guys together as a team, bringing individuals like a hand and making them collective, that’s my job now, and I’ve got to bring everyone together to see the benefits of how we can all succeed as one.”
Smith delivered an eye-opening statement that, despite Franklin’s best efforts, money and personal incentives had become the focus of his players. The thing he fought so hard to prevent had infected the team.
It’s now up to Smith, and potentially someone else in 2026, to find a new balance in college football. Pay players, be ruthlessly aggressive in talent acquisition, and keep the players focused on the main goal:
Winning football games.
(attn: Rhule, Matt)
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