STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Penn State already replaced an offensive coordinator this offseason and will need to add a running backs coach in January. The Nittany Lions could be in the market for a defensive coordinator too as Brent Pry emerged as the favorite for the head coaching job at University of Louisiana-Lafayette, per Bruce Feldman of Sports Illustrated.
However, luring away Pry from Penn State for this position is far from a given and it could be a financial challenge too, as Feldman noted.
Seemingly every year around this time Pry's name is mentioned among various head coaching vacancies and every year James Franklin has been able to retain him. Pry came with Franklin from Vanderbilt and worked as the Nittany Lions' linebackers coach for his first two years in Happy Valley before being promoted to defensive coordinator after Bob Shoop departed for Tennessee.
Pry, much like Ricky Rahne who was promoted to offensive coordinator earlier this month, knows Franklin extremely well and the history between the two dates back to when Franklin was a quarterback at East Stroudsburg and Pry's father, Jim, was Franklin's offensive coordinator. Brent also began his coaching career there in 1993 and then climbed his way through the coaching ranks, which included a previous stop at Louisiana-Lafayette from 2002-2006 where he was the Ragin' Cajuns' defensive coordinator and linebackers coach from 2002-2003 and then was the assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach from 2004-2006.
Pry grew up in the coaching profession, moving from stop to stop as his dad followed his passion and up to this point hasn't held any head coaching positions. He's been rumored in offseasons past to be a strong candidate for the once vacant head coaching job at Georgia Southern and helping lead the Ragin' Cajuns to their first Sun Belt Conference championship certainly would make him an intriguing hire.
Franklin said in the past that he will be supportive of assistants who want to become head coaches, adding that the most important thing is to not lose assistants for lateral moves. This proved true already this offseason as Mississippi State's athletic director relayed a glowing message about their new head coach Joe Moorhead, who Franklin raved about when asked by Mississippi State's athletic director.
"If guys have a chance to be a head coach and that's what they want to do and it's going to make them happy and make their family happy, there's going to be nobody more supportive than me," Franklin said in the past when Pry was in the running for other head coaching vacancies. "On the same hand, I don't want to lose him. I got a lost of respect personally and professionally for Brent Pry. He's not only extremely valuable on our staff, but he's one of my best friends."
With Penn State coming down to the wire with the 2018 recruiting class that's set to sign in six days this move should be resolved soon. What's even more interesting? Pry, along with the rest of the Lions' coordinators and Franklin, is slated to meet with the media Friday morning in State College as part of the Nittany Lions' on campus Fiesta Bowl media day. So, at the very least it look like there should be some clarity on this potential move within the next 24 hours.