Just days after his exit from the New York Giants, Brian Daboll sparked a new wave of speculation with a single wardrobe choice. His choice of a Penn State hoodie was a surprise that immediately sparked rumors that something was developing between the two. While his son Christian’s former role at the university offers an explanation, it does little to quiet the noise around a program in need of a new head coach.

“I think so,” former NFL player A. Q. Shipley said on the November 12 episode of The Pat McAfee Show. “Anytime you get an opportunity to get a guy that coached with Nick Saban, with Bill Belichick, offensive coordinator at Alabama, and obviously been a head coach. He’s an offensive genius. We haven’t had a good offense (in) 20, 25, 30 years.”

“You just need somebody to help you navigate the NIL waters…And he’s wearing a hoodie.”

This year, Penn State started strong, winning its first 3 games, including the shutout win against the FIU Panthers. But after that, they started slipping and lost 6 consecutive games. This led to the management firing their longtime head coach, James Franklin, mid-season. While they have promoted Terry Smith as interim HC, they need someone who can guide the program through a turbulent season.

“He’s potentially letting them know, hey, I would be open…Wouldn’t mind heading up to State College,” Pat McAfee added while describing how Brian Daboll could help Penn State. “I got a chance to chat with him at Combine. He would represent Penn State pretty good…He’s very different than James Franklin.”

Franklin was in his 12th year at Penn State. Daboll has been in the NFL in different roles other than 2017, when he became the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the Alabama Crimson Tide. Also, college football has seen a higher number of NFL coaches arriving. The biggest name was the Patriots’ longtime coach and legend, Bill Belichick.

If Brian Daboll also follows the same path, things could get pretty interesting. However, there is an NFL team that is also being named in the rumors.

Brian Daboll’s path to the AFC is closed for now

Before the Giants signed him up as their head coach, Brian Daboll worked at the Buffalo Bills as their offensive coordinator from 2018 to 2021. He is responsible for developing Josh Allen in his initial years after drafting him 7th overall (first-round) in the 2018 Draft. The rumors claimed that he might be heading back to Buffalo. But the head coach Sean McDermott shut down all of them.

“Brian is a great coach, unfortunate to see that happen to him, but at this point, that’s not under any type of consideration,” he said on November 11 when reporter asked him about any potential move for Daboll.

The Bills HC praised his OC Joe Brady and claimed that they are moving ahead in the direction they wanted to. Brady has been phenomenal. Under him, Allen qualified for the AFC Championships for the second time in his 8-year career. But concerns came up after the Bills lost to the Miami Dolphins in their week 10 game. It was a shocking loss. However, for now, Brian Daboll needs to freshen up while teams might approach him with a new offer.

The Giants have already moved ahead with Mike Kafka as their interim HC. There has been no statement from Daboll yet. It would be interesting to see how things shape up.