Al Golden is one of the top candidates to replace Bill O'Brien at Penn State, according to Bob Flounders of Penn Live.

James Franklin of Vanderbilt is also considered to be one of the frontrunners to land the job, as is the recently fired Greg Schiano. Schiano was an assistant coach at Penn State in the 1990s before going onto other things. He was fired by the Buccaneers earlier this week.

Golden, 44, has strong ties to the university. He played four years as a Nittany Lion from 1987-1991, serving as a team captain as a senior. He also spent one year coaching the linebackers at PSU in 2000.

Golden was hired by Miami and 2011 and has done a nice job turning the program around amidst an NCAA investigation, leading the Hurricanes to a 22-15 mark over the last three years. Prior to a couple of key injuries derailing the season in 2013, Miami was in the hunt for a BCS bowl game.

When Penn State was looking for a head coach to replace Joe Paterno in 2011, Golden was a strong candidate to land the job.

If you've been following my writing long enough, you know that I've referred to the current University of Miami head coach as Future Penn State Head Coach Al Golden for a number of years. It's always been a bit of a tongue-in-cheek thing, but also a nod to a guy who turned around the Temple football program's fortunes when nobody else had been remotely successful before him.

Black Shoe Diaries also noted at the time that the school "won't find a better fit anywhere" and that many of Golden's coaching philosophies stem from his time with Paterno as a player and coach.

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