Following Penn State's announcement of a search committee to name a long-term replacement for fired head coach Joe Paterno on Monday, ESPN's Joe Schad reported on Tuesday that Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen tops the list of potential candidates for the job.
Mullen was a member of new Ohio State coach Urban Meyer's staff at Florida, where he coached the Gators' offense to a pair of national championships. He's also managed to post a 20-17 record as coach of the Bulldogs despite coaching in the Southeastern Conference's rugged west division, which includes traditional powers LSU, Alabama and Auburn.
Nittany Lion players don't appear interested in an outsider, however, at least not at this point. As Audrey Snyder of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports, they're squarely behind interim head coach and long-time Paterno assistant Tom Bradley.
"We love 'Scrap.' He's done a great job with us, and we really respect him a lot," senior left tackle Quinn Barham said. "We don't talk to him about what's next. We talk to him about the game."
...
"I doubt that they would come to us because as players we all like (Bradley)," senior receiver Derek Moye said of the search committee. "We love him as a coach, honestly. They just want to make their decision — just them, I guess."
For all the latest on the Penn State coaching search, stay with SB Nation Pittsburgh.