Penn St Narrows Coaching Field: Golden and Others To Interview (Update: Golden Offered or Not)

UPDATE 5:00pm 1/3/14:

CaneSport.com reports Al Golden has been offered the Penn State job. If so, take what you read after the CaneSport tweet, with a grain of salt....

CaneSport has confirmed that Al Golden has been offered the head coaching job at Penn State. While expected to take it, no word yet from Al
— CaneSport (@CaneSport) January 3, 2014

However other reports say no. That it hasn't happened.

This isn't what they mean by casual Friday you guys. RT @djoneshoop NO ONE has been offered job. Report was wrong.
— Ben Jones (@Ben_Jones88) January 3, 2014

So who do you believe?
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Earlier Story:

So who is it? Al Golden? James Franklin or Mike Munchak?

It depends we guess, on who's website or "expert" you believe in...

Reports are flying fast and furious that Penn State is quickly closing in on a new head coach.

The latest report....it comes from ESPN.com's Joe Schad who says University of Miami head coach Al Golden (a Penn State alum) has agreed to an interview:

Penn State source said Al Golden agreed to speak about the opening as early as today because "It would be coming home."
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) January 3, 2014

And, there's more...

CoachingSearch.com, a very well connected website with lots of inside scoop on coaching moves, reports that Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin will be interviewed on Sunday.

Read that in their daily ticker RIGHT HERE

And ESPN.com's Brett McMurphy adds that Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Munchak, also an alum, and currently still in charge of the Titans, is also going to be interviewed for the gig.

So, does any of this make sense to you?

Golden, does because of his ties. And his apparent love for his alma mater. This despite an arguably better job with a very high profile team.

Franklin however does NOT make sense. Yes, he's from the area, but why would he leave an SEC team that he's had huge success with to take another rebuilding job? Sure, that SEC job is Vanderbilt and yes, Franklin's name comes up for every high profile job. But we just don't think this one makes sense.

As for Munchak, much like Golden, he makes some sense. He's got ties, he's now got the coaching experience. No, he hasn't been incredibly successful with the Titans, but he hasn't been a failure either. You don't often hear of NFL coaches with jobs stepping back, but the Titans are still evaluating Munchak's job and whether or not he'll still have it next season.

Expect something to happen fairly quick. We're guessing Penn State will wait until after Monday's BCS title game to make the announcement, unless it leaks first. But we are very confident it will happen soon and one of these guys is likely to be the hire.

Sandusky Victims to Get $60 Million from Penn State

Jerry Sandusky

Wow...okay, Penn State must have a serious amount of money tucked away in its coffers.

The school announced Monday morning, they've reached settlements with 26 of the 32 people who made sexual abuse allegations against former Assistant Football coach Jerry Sandusky. Payments for those settlements according to the school--$59.7 million.

Penn State was quick to make clear the money would not come from tuition, taxpayer funds or donations, but rather a variety of insurance policies and other self-sufficient sources.

From the school's press release: "The Board of Trustees has had as one of its primary objectives to reach settlements in a way that is fair and respects the privacy of the individuals involved,” said Keith Masser, chair of the Board of Trustees. "This is another important milestone in accomplishing that goal. I would like to thank the board’s Legal and Compliance Committee, as well as its Legal Subcommittee for its leadership throughout this process.”

University President Rodney Erickson added; “We hope this is another step forward in the healing process for those hurt by Mr. Sandusky, and another step forward for Penn State. We cannot undo what has been done, but we can and must do everything possible to learn from this and ensure it never happens again at Penn State.”

Per multiple reports, part of the agreement has a confidentiality clause in it. That clause would not allow the victims or family members to disclose how much they received from the school.

Read more from PennLive.com RIGHT HERE

In many ways, this ties up most of the loose ends in the 2009/10/11 case that saw the Nittany Lions former defensive coordinator arrested and charged with multiple cases of child sexual molestation, publicly humiliating the school and many of it's legends. Sandusky is in jail, where it appears he'll be for a very long time, the school administrators involved are no longer with the school.

No doubt the people of Happy Valley will be happy the saga has almost ended. The only curveball would be if Sandusky appeals his sentence.

Oh wait...