Despite being one of the first major Power Four openings following the Oct. 12 firing of James Franklin six games into the season, Penn State was without a full-time head football coach for 58 days until Iowa State‘s Matt Campbell was formally hired on Dec. 5.
During the two-month-long coaching search, more than 10 candidates — from Alabama‘s Kalen DeBoer to Nebraska‘s Matt Rhule — were reportedly mentioned in connection to the Nittany Lions opening, even if most were never serious options. Several of those candidates — Rhule, Indiana‘s Curt Cignetti and BYU‘s Kalani Sitake — received lucractive contract extensions just for being mentioned in connection to Penn State.
In the meantime, longtime assistant and interim head coach Terry Smith did his best to pick up the pieces of the once-promising season and closed out on a three-game win streak to secure bowl eligibility for Penn State (6-6). That late-season surge helped boost support for Smith to be promoted to full-time head coach, especially among current and former players.
During Penn State’s victory over Rutgers, multiple players held up signs that read, “Hire Terry Smith,” which showed the amount of support the veteran coach had built within the program. Former PSU star Michael Robinson also advocated for Smith to get the top job.
Terry Smith on support from PSU alumni: ‘It means everything’
“It means everything,” Smith said in late November. “Obviously, the support that the lettermen are giving me, especially Michael Robinson doing that, obviously it means we’re doing something right. Just trying to create a culture for our team to play hard, play tough, and for our fans to get behind us and support us and stay in our corner.”
Smith, a four-year letter winner between 1987-91 under legendary head coach Joe Paterno, was ultimately retained and will return as the associate head coach under Campbell. But the lengthy search left many wondering why the 56-year-old alum and longtime associate head coach wasn’t given more serious consideration.
Turns out Smith was a “legitimate candidate,” according to a detailed report from ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg, Max Olson and Eli Lederman released on Christmas Eve. The ESPN report revealed Smith was among five candidates that actually interviewed with PSU athletic director Pat Kraft, though he “ultimately lacked the FBS head coaching experience Penn State desired.”
Of course, prior to his interim gig this season, Smith has never led his own collegiate football program. The former collegiate receiver nicknamed “Superfly” has served as the Nittany Lions’ cornerbacks coach since 2014, adding the title of assistant head coach two years later in 2016 before becoming the associate head coach in 2021. Given that wealth of experience, Smith was a priority for Campbell and Penn State, which reportedly made him college football’s highest-paid non-coordinator, according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz.