Today marks one week since Ed DeChellis announced his decision to move on from Penn State to the United States Naval Academy, and much has happened in the past seven days. News has been made by some big names and some not so big names as the Nittany Lions look for their next head coach. Here's a recap of all of it.
On Wednesday, Penn State hired former college basketball coach Eddie Fogler to help athletic director Tim Curley with the search for a new coach. Fogler has helped schools including Auburn find replacements and will act as a consultant in Penn State's search. Also on Wednesday, news leaked from ESPN.com's Anday Katz that former Auburn coach Jeff Lebo was on Penn State's radar. In a joint statement with his current employer East Carolina on Thursday, however, Lebo denied being contacted by Penn State and reinforced his commitment to the Pirates.
Thursday also brought a tweet from Mark Brennan of Fight On State announcing that Penn State is considering former Utah head coach Jeff Boylen for its vacant position. Boylen led the Utes to a five seed in the NCAA Tournament in 2009, but was fired this spring after two straight losing seasons.
Friday, a real bombshell was dropped on the Penn State community as Larry Brown told David Jones of the Harrisburg Patriot-News he talked to Curley over the phone about the job. Brown was told Penn State is looking in another direction, however, and for a man with more recent college coaching experience than the 70-year old Hall of Famer.
The week's news was capped off on Sunday when Cory Giger of the Altoona Mirror reported Duquese coach Ron Everhart will interview for the Penn State job this coming week. Everhart took over a 3-win team in 2006 and led the Dukes to a 20-win season and NIT appearance by 2009.
Other possibly candidates for the job include Boston's Patrick Chambers, Milwaukee's Rob Jeter, former Bucknell coach Pat Flannery and Arizona State assistant Scott Pera. As this search enters its second week, look for that field to narrow some and for a frontrunner or two to emerge.
Now back to your regularly scheduled Illinois week.