Penn Staters in the Philadelphia area should keep their eyes open today.

The Philadelphia Daily News' Ace Carter reports new Penn State head football coach James Franklin was in Philadelphia today visiting recruits at Catholic League power house Archbishop Wood and Imhotep. La Salle Sports CEO and KYW News Radio's Chris Jastrzembski reports Franklin was also at Catholic League power La Salle today as well.

Franklin was reportedly at La Salle to visit junior quarterback Kyle Shurmur, son of Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. The younger Shurmur just finished his first season as quarterback of the Explorers and the 6'4", 215 lbs. pocket passer is also one of the top swimming recruits in the country.

-Steve Dolan
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The Hawk Will Never Die!

Saint Joseph's has had a tough go of it lately and haven't had much to hang their hats on. But that changed a bit when the NCAA announced their top college basketball traditions. Coming in at No. 1 on the list was the Saint Joseph's Hawk mascot. 

"Rock Chalk, Jayhawk" which is made famous by Kansas checked in at No. 2. The UCLA "Frisbee Cheer" was third followed by "Krzyzewskiville" at Duke University with "Rolling the Quad" at Wake Forest rounding out the top five.

The Hawk never stops flapping its wings at all St. Joe's games which some estimate encompasses about 3,200 flaps per game. The Hawk is a student manager who receives a full scholarship for his duties. Of course you have to be in top shape to do it so St. Joe's had former SJU track runner Ian Klinger as The Hawk for the past two seasons.

-Steve Dolan
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The Nittany Lions prove to be more attractive than the Commodores. At least to James Franklin.

Vanderbilt head football coach James Franklin will reportedly be announced as the head football coach job at Penn State making him the 16th head coach in school history and the first minority head coach of the football program. He had been offer the job late Wednesday night. Penn State is said to be making a "major announcement" at 4:15 pm Saturday and ESPN's Brett McMurphy reports Franklin is expected to receive a contract worth up to $4.5 million per year - Bill O'Brien made $3.82 million annually.

Franklin, 41, has reportedly been on the Penn State radar for some time now. The Langhorne-native was a quarterback at East Stroudsburg in the early-90s. He moved up the coaching ranks all throughout the country before ending up at the wide receivers coach with the Green Bay Packers in 2005. Following his one season in Green Bay, Franklin headed to Kansas State where he was the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. He was Maryland's offensive coordinator from 2008-10 before accepting the Vanderbilt head coaching position in 2011.

One concern many around the Penn State community had with the coaching search was whether or not the school would be able to find an offensive mind to keep Christian Hackenberg in Happy Valley. From all reports it seems as though Franklin is the perfect offensive mind for Penn State. 

Another major bonus for Franklin is his ability to recruit. He had tremendous success recruiting for the Commodores and many fellow coaches believe he could build a power in State College if he were to accept the job at Penn State.

-Steve Dolan
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Penn State as reportedly made an offer and it sounds like they have their man.

The Nittany Lions have offered their head football coaching position to current Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin according to The Times Tribune. ESPN's Brett McMurphy reports that Franklin is expected to accept the Penn State job as early as Thursday to become the 16th head coach in school history.

Franklin, 41, has reportedly been on the Penn State radar for some time now. The Langhorne-native was a quarterback at East Stroudsburg in the early-90s. He moved up the coaching ranks all throughout the country before ending up at the wide receivers coach with the Green Bay Packers in 2005. Following his one season in Green Bay, Franklin headed to Kansas State where he was the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. He was Maryland's offensive coordinator from 2008-10 before accepting the Vanderbilt head coaching position in 2011.

One concern many around the Penn State community had with the coaching search was whether or not the school would be able to find an offensive mind to keep Christian Hackenberg in Happy Valley. From all reports it seems as though Franklin is the perfect offensive mind for Penn State. 

Another major bonus for Franklin is his ability to recruit. He had tremendous success recruiting for the Commodores and many fellow coaches believe he could build a power in State College if he were to accept the job at Penn State.

-Steve Dolan
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It has been and up and down weekend for Miami Hurricanes head football coach Al Golden.

On Friday reports surfaced that Golden was set to interview for the vacant head coaching position at Penn State with one South Florida report citing sources that Golden had been offered the job at Penn State.

On Sunday, Golden released a statement on the Hurricanes website stating he is not a candidate for any other head coaching position.

Sounds like he is staying at the University of Miami even though he doesn't come out and say it directly.

I guess always leaving the door somewhat open.

Golden is a Penn State guy having played tight end for the Nittany Lions from 1987-1991 then coaching their linebackers in 2000. His work at Temple turned them from a 1-11 team to a 9-4 team that played in a bowl game. At Miami, he is 22-15 taking them from 6-6 to a team to a 9-4 team last season.

-Steve Dolan
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Al Golden and Penn State... it's been talked about since Joe Paterno was relieved of his duties in November 2011.

ESPN's Joe Schad reports former-Temple head football coach and current Miami Hurricanes coach Al Golden agreed to meet with Penn State officials about the vacant head coaching position because "it would be coming home." Football Scoup reports Golden to Penn State is a "strong possibility" while Cane Sports reports Penn State has offered the head coaching position. 

I am a huge Al Golden supporter since he turned the Temple football program around. He was my top choice to replace Paterno but he obviously couldn't leave Miami. He is a Penn State guy having played tight end for the Nittany Lions from 1987-1991 then coaching their linebackers in 2000. His work at Temple turned them from a 1-11 team to a 9-4 team that played in a bowl game. At Miami, he is 22-15 taking them from 6-6 to a team to a 9-4 team last season.

I think Golden would be a great hire, especially if he can get a good offensive coordinator to work with Christian Hackenberg & Co.

-Steve Dolan
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I don't have any idea how to feel about Bill O'Brien's legacy at Penn State.

I never expected Bill O'Brien to be Joe Paterno, and I firmly believe that the vast majority of the fan base knew he would leap to the NFL in time. And we were okay with that, mostly because the assumption went that he would lead Penn State back to prominence before doing so. Some could argue he already did during his two years here, but that doesn't take the idea of Christian Hackenburg and Bill O'Brien celebrating the 2016 Big Ten Championship together out of our heads, nor the sting of his silent departure from our hearts.

Publicly, Bill O'Brien embraced Penn State the way hundreds of thousands of fans and alumni have. He sat in the front row at basketball games. He toured the state promoting Penn State Athletics from Scranton to South Philly. When I danced in THON 2012, Bill O'Brien sent me a letter of encouragement. He gave every indication that he felt the same passion for Penn State as we did.
And, really, that's what hurts. We cannot fathom the idea that someone would not want to be a part of the Penn State family, our family. That makes us no better or worse than any other fan base in major college football, except that at Penn State, the coaches felt, and still feel in the case of Larry Johnson Sr., that way too. Whether this represents a football #culture or simply a fan base with the same small town ideals as its epicenter, I'm not sure, but like it or not that's how "We Are."

In the end, it appears, O'Brien chose to make his decision as much about his frustration at Penn State as his desire to pursue football's crown jewel, the Lombardi Trophy. The quotes published in David Jones' piece earlier this week seem to confirm that, depicting an exasperated man who simply couldn't grin and bear it anymore in the face of university leadership questions and occasional fan base bickering.

This from the same coach who high-fived the first row of the student section after wins and emphatically stated to fans that "you are why we want to be here" in 2012.

This from the same coach who took the job knowing he followed a college football legend and Penn State pillar.

This from the same coach who had the adulation of 99.9% of the Penn State fan base and State College community.

This from the same coach getting paid $3.6 million for his first head coaching job and a year later having the balls to ask for Penn State to lower his NFL buyout (which they did).

This from the same coach who preached loyalty and commitment to his players and recruits under the premise that his time at Penn State would span theirs as well.

But I digress.

Regardless of where you fall on the issue, Bill O'Brien taught us the same philosophy that we must again adopt as a fan base, which is that no one man is bigger than Penn State. For this, we should be grateful, because it means we have hope for the soon-to-be-sanction-free future after few predicted our survival at all in July 2012. Now, it seems, Penn State's opening has as much buzz as that at Texas or at USC a few weeks back.

For that, I cannot ignore what O'Brien accomplished here just because I didn't like the way it ended.

Thank you for the memories, Bill. Good luck in the NFL, I guess.

- John Tecce
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A lot of Penn State football news recently.

Penn State football announced Thursday junior wide receiver Allen Robinson will forgo his final year of eligibility to enter the 2014 NFL Draft. The 6'3", 205 lbs. receiver projects to be a late-first/early-second round draft pick.

Robinson leaves Penn State with quite a resume. He is a two-time Big Ten Richter-Howard Receiver of the Year and was a 2013 finalist for the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top receiver. He set Penn Sttae single-season record for receptions with 97 and yards with 1,432. He recorded nine touchdowns in 2013 to give him 17 for his career. He is near the top in almost every major receiving category in Penn State's record books doing most of his damage over only two seasons.

CBS Sports' Rob Rang has Robinson going 26th overall to the Cleveland Browns while Dane Brugler has him going 30th overall to Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers.

-Steve Dolan
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This would be a huge loss for Penn State, perhaps even bigger than the loss of Bill O'Brien.

In the wake of the departure of head football coach Bill O'Brien for the Houston Texans, many around the Penn State football program are concerned about the future. Who is going to coach the team? What will happen to recruits? Better yet, what will happen with their current players?

All eyes are certainly on freshman quarterback Christian Hackenberg, who just finished his first season as the Nittany Lions' starter. He had a successful campaign and hearing "if O'Brien could do all of that with McGloin, imagine four years with Hackenberg!" was common in Happy Valley.

Now will Hackenberg even stick around for the fall?

The Altoona Mirror's Cory Giger caught up with Erick Hackenberg, Christian's father, who gave a very noncommittal response saying the quarterback was "neutral" on his return to Penn State and would not say whether "he will or won't" return. The elder Hackenberg left it at, "he's still enrolled at Penn State."

Not exactly a vote of confidence that the future star of the program is going to see it all the way through.

It is hard to blame Hackenberg if he leaves. I mean, he was sold on the idea of commitment to the program, to the coaches, and to the university. The very same man who was preaching about commitment to all of those things left that all behind earlier this week to pursue a job in the NFL.

I don't blame O'Brien for leaving for the Texans but I also think the words that made him so beloved around Happy Valley and with his recruits are coming back to make him look a bit hypocritical.

For the sake of the Penn State football program, I hope Hackenberg sticks it out with whoever they bring in to replace O'Brien.

-Steve Dolan
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This is news Penn State fans were hoping to avoid.

ESPN reports Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien will be the next head coach of the Texans. He heads to a team that lost 14-straight games to close out the regular season and locked up the No. 1 overall pick in next spring's NFL draft.

O'Brien has won over the hearts of Penn State fans with his matter-of-fact, no-nonsense style along with his tremendous success on the field and in recruiting. Since taking over in the wake of a scandal in 2012, O'Brien has put up an impressive 15-9 record while landing some of the nation's top recruits, such as quarterback Christian Hackenberg, despite dealing with a bowl-ban and reduced scholarships.

One potential man to replace O'Brien is Titans head coach Mike Munchak, who is reportedly interested. Munchak was one of the favorites for the position in 2011 when the university relieved long-time head coach Joe Paterno of his duties. He did not reached out himself about the Penn State position because he is technically still employed by the Tennessee Titans but he is expected to be fired at the end of the season.

What O'Brien has done with the Penn State football program is nothing short of a miracle. He restored a program that was a shell of its former self and he managed to do it in two short years. His loss certainly stings the Penn State faithful but what he leaves them with is something of which they should certainly be proud.

-Steve Dolan
Follow Steve on Twitter @SDolan3
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