The race to find the next head coach of the USC Trojans is starting with major candidates.

Penn State’s James Franklin has been reported to be the frontrunner for the Trojans with Dan Patrick being the one to issue that report. On Monday, Patrick asked USC legend Carson Palmer if Franklin was indeed the frontrunner.

Palmer would not commit to Franklin as being the sole frontrunner, saying instead there are “frontrunners” with Franklin among that group:

“I think there’s a lot of frontrunners, and that’s why I like where we’re sitting,” said Palmer. “You’ve got Penn State (James Franklin), you’ve got Iowa State (Matt Campbell), you’ve got Cincinnati (Luke Fickell). You’ve got a wild card like Mike Tomlin if he wants out (of the Pittsburgh Steelers)…there’s a lot of great options.”

Franklin is in his 8th year as head coach of Penn State and has accumulated an overall record of 65-30. He has created significant turnarounds for programs like Penn State and Vanderbilt. USC fans and media outlets believe he could do the same for USC.