The first round of contestants in the Penn State transfer sweepstakes will apparently include Syracuse, Iowa and UCF, as those schools' head coaches have reportedly made contact with new Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien regarding his players.
According to a Wednesday morning report on Twitter from CBSSports.com analyst Dennis Dodd, the Orange, Hawkeyes and Knights are among the schools that will attempt to recruit players from the Nittany Lions in the wake of the massive sanctions handed down by the NCAA on Monday. With Penn State facing a four-year bowl ban and loss of scholarships, the NCAA has allowed any current Penn State player or incoming freshman to transfer to another school with immediate eligibility, waiving the typical requirement that transferring players sit out a year before competing.
"Doug Marrone, Kirk Ferentz and George O'Leary have called Bill O'Brein to say they are recruiting PSU players," Dodd posted to his Twitter account (@dennisdoddcbs).
Marrone is in his fourth year at Syracuse and was a finalist for the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year award in 2010, when the Orange went 8-5 and defeated Kansas State in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. His overall record in three years at Syracuse is 17-20. The Orange was 5-7 in 2011.
Ferentz is in his 14th year at Iowa, and won his third Big Ten Coach of the Year award in 2009. He's 96-66 in 13 seasons as head coach, including a 7-6 record in 2011 that ended with a loss to Oklahoma in the Insight Bowl.
O'Leary is in his ninth season at UCF, and will lead the Knights into the Big East in 2013. He's won Conference USA's Coach of the Year award three times in the last seven years, including a 2010 campaign when the Knights went 11-3, won the Conference USA title and defeated Georgia in the Autozone Liberty Bowl. His career record is 102-84, including a 52-33 record at Georgia Tech and a 50-51 record at UCF, which went 5-7 last year.
Among the top Penn State players considered as targets for other programs are junior running back Silas Redd, freshman receiver Eugene Lewis, senior defensive tackle Jordan Hill, junior linebacker Khairi Fortt and sophomore running back Bill Belton.