Not sure I believe it, but I've heard rumors that Jimmy Sexton was pissed at the way Penn St fired Franklin and is advising his clients to not take the job
Here are my thoughts and you tell me if I'm wrong.
They could have had Chesney. He would have taken that job over UCLA. He was born and raised in PA. Went to college in PA also. It seemed like a great fit from his side, from that perspective. But PSU wanted a "splash" hire. So the feelers were that he would not get that job, hence the pivot to UCLA who IMO made a tremendous hire in Chesney. PSU loss is their gain.
The other candidate Kalani - I am 95% certain he never intended to leave BYU and just wanted to get paid and perhaps secure more NIL $$$ for his program.
It appears he accomplished both.
Are there any other top-flight candidates who PSU and the dude had mutual interest?
I cannot for a minute believe that Kalani was in their Top 5 wishlist.
I am guessing Cignetti is the guy they wanted but IU locked him up. However, the buyout for another school to take him out of the IU contract is $15M.
Not huge by today's standards.
