Penn State fired James Franklin on Oct. 12, and remains the biggest pony left in this year's college football coaching carousel. What's the latest?

Penn State's 53-day coaching search, which looked lost after Kalani Sitake stuck with BYU at the last minute, might find a soft landing after all. A source confirmed that Iowa State's Matt Campbell has emerged as the latest candidate in Penn State's winding pursuit to replace James Franklin.

While DeBoer drew scrutiny at times throughout the first two years of his Alabama tenure, he has the program back on track to compete for championships and would have to halt his positive momentum to take another job. Arguing that Penn State is a more premier destination than Alabama in the first place also takes some twisting of reality.

Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer addressed rumors about him being linked to other coaching jobs, including one at Penn State.

Two days before the SEC championship game, Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer essentially said that he will not become Penn State's next head coach. During a media availability Thursday, DeBoer was asked for the first time about being linked to the Penn State job.

Tuesday was the most dramatic day of the Penn State coaching search, as their pursuit of BYU coach Kalani Sitake seemed to be completed, only for BYU's donors to rally and lock Sitake into an extension in Provo.

Ralph D. Russo and Bruce Feldman of The Athletic reported on the situation and noted the Nittany Lions "had some type of contact with" Pat Fitzgerald before he chose Michigan State, Bob Chesney before he chose UCLA, former New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll and Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden.

The 56-year-old coach is a Penn State alum who has been an assistant with the Nittany Lions since 2014. After a brief professional career, the former wide receiver coached high school teams from 1996 until 2012. Temple hired him as its wide receivers coach in 2013. A year later, his alma mater came calling.