As the rumblings begin to quiet down following the worst Penn State football season in the Joe Paterno era, things are relatively quiet in Happy Valley.

With rumors swirling about various head coaching vacancies in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and in Conference USA, many of the Nittany Lions' assistants who might apply for those jobs were on the road and unavailable for comment.

Wide receivers coach Kenny Carter, who has said the opening at Army would be his "dream job," was reportedly on the road recruiting.

A call to his house was not returned.

Some conversation about the West Point job has centered around several names. Those candidates include Western Illinois' Don Patterson, Maryland offensive coordinator Charlie Taaffe and, before he decided to stay in State College, Penn State linebackers coach Ron Vanderlinden -- an assistant in Army's athletic department said no names had been released by Athletic Director
Rick Greenspan.

"He has not released the names of any potential candidates and has not released the names of anyone he has interviewed," the assistant said.

He continued to say that the search was going well and that it would hopefully, be completed in the next month.

In addition to his rumored candidacy for the Army coaching vacancy, Vanderlinden was also a candidate for head job at Eastern Michigan, but turned down the position because he wants to stay at Penn State.

Instead, the Eagles named Northwestern assistant Jeff Genyk as their new head coach yesterday.

Several other mid-major programs are still open around the nation, including head coaching positions at Akron, Cincinnati and Central Florida.

Jay Paterno, the Lions' quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator who also helps call Penn State's offensive plays, might be under consideration for some of the openings.

In the past, Joe Paterno had suggested that his son, Jay, might benefit from moving on to a head position at another school.

Akron sports information director Shawn Nestor said he would not comment on the list of potential candidates for the Zips' head coaching position.

Jay Paterno could not be reached for comment yesterday.