When Power Brokers Control Your Talent Pipeline: The Jimmy Sexton–Penn State Case Study

A Coaching Search That Became an HR Lesson in Market Power

The Penn State coaching search has been covered as sports drama. Strip away the football and what remains is a textbook case study in executive hiring, leverage dynamics, and the operational risk companies face when a single intermediary controls access to elite talent.

Penn State fired head coach James Franklin in October but as of early December remains without a replacement, while schools like LSU, Florida, Auburn, Arkansas, Michigan State, and others filled their vacancies weeks ago.[1] The delay has drawn public attention, and according to college football analyst Todd McShay, super agent Jimmy Sexton is "messing around" with Penn State's search because he was displeased with how the university terminated his client James Franklin.[1][2]

What appears to be college athletics intrigue maps directly onto corporate hiring dynamics: a critical executive vacancy, public pressure to fill it quickly, and a powerful third party who controls a substantial share of the best available candidates. For anyone who works in HR, executive search, or business leadership, this situation demonstrates how market concentration, strained relationships, and urgency can quietly shift hiring power away from the employer.

The Gatekeeper Problem: When One Power Broker Owns the Market

Sexton operates his branch of CAA's talent empire out of Memphis and represents many of college football's top coaches.[3] McShay referred to Sexton as the most powerful figure in college football, describing how his influence extends across coaching searches nationwide.[1][3]

This is not unique to sports. High-stakes executive hiring often funnels through a small number of firms or intermediaries. When your company depends on one gatekeeper for access to top talent, you rarely control the process.

In the business world, a single search firm or talent broker can function as the unofficial regulator of who you do or do not get to consider. If relationships sour, the pipeline closes. Penn State's reported rift between athletic director Patrick Kraft and Sexton created exactly that dynamic, with the agent reportedly displeased by Franklin's abrupt termination.[2][3] Powerful agents and search firms serve their clients, not the employer. When interests diverge, the employer loses leverage before the search even begins.

Business Translation: If you rely on one firm to access top executives, you have already surrendered negotiating power.

Leverage and Timing: Why Urgency Always Favors the Seller

Penn State has been under enormous public pressure to move quickly. The university fired Franklin in mid-October, giving them what should have been a two-month head start on competitors, yet they remain without a hire.[1] Public scrutiny, fan expectations, and the competitive coaching carousel compressed their timeline and shifted leverage decisively to talent and their representatives.

In the corporate world, this mirrors the board that demands a CEO in 60 days or the private equity fund that needs leadership in place before a transaction closes. Urgency shifts leverage to the talent side. In coaching and in business, intermediaries use competing interest, counteroffers, and negotiating pressure to drive price and terms.

Multiple Penn State targets, including Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz and Vanderbilt's Clark Lea, signed substantial contract extensions around Thanksgiving.[5] Bob Chesney, another Sexton client Penn State showed interest in, ultimately took the UCLA job.[1][3] The pattern is familiar: candidates who might have been viable never seriously enter the conversation, and those who do use the interest to negotiate raises or extensions elsewhere.

Business Translation:  Scarcity plus urgency creates a seller's market. Your succession planning determines whether you negotiate from strength or desperation.

Relationship Management: The Invisible Risk That Stops Great Hires

According to multiple reports, tension existed between Penn State's leadership and Sexton before the search even began, with McShay suggesting Kraft struggled to gain traction with top coaching targets as a result.[3] That tension quietly shaped the search's outcome. Candidates who might have been viable never even entered the conversation.

In executive hiring, this happens constantly. A company undervalues a search partner one year. A firm feels burned by a previous negotiation. A past disagreement resurfaces when it matters most. The employer often never knows which doors were closed on their behalf.

Search professionals maintain relationships as carefully as any client relationship. Board recruiters work on reputation, and there is no room for a failed appointment, meaning they will not recommend anyone they do not have absolute faith in.[35] When trust breaks down between an employer and a key intermediary, access closes quietly and often invisibly.

Business Translation:  Vendor management is not administrative. It is strategic. The partners who control your pipelines can help you or hinder you, and past treatment shapes future access.

Talent Economics and the Coaching Carousel: A Mirror of Modern Hiring

The college coaching carousel illustrates today's talent markets sharply. Buyouts shape mobility. Short tenures increase turnover. The best candidates rarely hit the open market. Employers pay more each year to hire or fire leaders.

Corporate markets follow the same pattern. Executive compensation has climbed, with many companies preferring to hire leaders from marquee brands as a perceived risk-management strategy during volatile periods.[16] Competition across industries has intensified. Top candidates are pre-committed or heavily represented.

The financial costs of a bad C-suite hire are estimated at about 30% of the individual's yearly salary, with potential for greater losses through misaligned priorities and organizational performance downturns.[40] In both settings, strategy beats speed. Process beats pressure. Relationships beat transactions.

What Companies Should Learn From Penn State's Struggle

A. Do Not Allow One Firm to Own Your Pipeline

Build long-term relationships with multiple partners so your access does not depend on a single gatekeeper. Executive search firms typically offer replacement guarantees if a hired candidate does not remain with the company, reflecting the importance of partnership quality and trust.[20] Diversifying your search partners protects you when relationships shift or market dynamics change.

B. Protect Leverage by Planning Before the Fire Drill

Succession planning, market mapping, and proactive outreach reduce urgency-driven mistakes. Successful compensation negotiations require extensive research and preparation, with executives expected to present themselves and their potential value effectively.[42] The same applies to employers: those who plan ahead negotiate from strength rather than panic.

C. Maintain Strong Relationships with Intermediaries

Vendors remember how you treat them. Respect, clarity, and fairness keep doors open. Organizations hire executive search firms to find talent outside their industry and network, making it critical to maintain collaborative relationships that provide strategic viewpoints when identifying top talent.[29] Relationship capital compounds over time, but it also erodes when taken for granted.

D. Keep Emotions Out of Critical Hiring Moments

If relationships break down, the fallout is often operational, not personal. Penn State's situation demonstrates how personal friction can cascade into strategic consequences. In business hiring, maintaining professionalism with all parties, even during difficult transitions, protects future access to talent.

E. Think About the Incentives of Every Player Involved

Agents serve candidates. Search firms serve whoever pays them. Universities and companies serve their stakeholders. Misaligned incentives create predictable conflict. Internal gatekeepers who care more about their own comfort than business growth can infiltrate hiring processes and inflict damage to company growth.[33] Understanding where each party's interests lie helps you structure searches that align outcomes rather than create friction.

Conclusion: Every Company Has a Jimmy Sexton Problem Waiting to Happen

The Penn State story is dramatic because it is public. Most companies experience their version of this in silence. While this was playing out, James Franklin assembled a top-25 recruiting class at Virginia Tech, plucking former Penn State commits.[9] The consequences of a stalled search compound rapidly in both sports and business.

Your success depends on who controls your access to talent, how prepared you are before the search begins, and whether your relationships with third parties are strong enough to support the outcome you want. According to recent compensation reports, negotiating leverage has shifted back toward employers in some sectors, but specialized roles and executive positions still face intense market competition.[44]

This is not a story about sports. It is a warning about leadership, leverage, and the price organizations pay when they react instead of prepare. Every executive hiring process involves power dynamics. The question is whether you understand them before they determine your outcome.

Citations

[1] McShay, T. (2024, December). Todd McShay: Super agent Jimmy Sexton 'messing around' with Penn State coaching search. Awful Announcing. https://awfulannouncing.com/college-football/todd-mcshay-jimmy-sexton-messing-around-penn-state-coaching-search.html

[2] Penn State Coaching Delay Tied to Serious Conflict: Report. (2024, December). Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/sports/ncaa/penn-state-coaching-delay-tied-to-serious-conflict-report-11144399

[3] McShay: Rift Between Jimmy Sexton and Pat Kraft Slowing Penn State Coaching Search. (2024, December). Nittany Sports Now. https://nittanysportsnow.com/2025/12/mcshay-rift-between-jimmy-sexton-and-pat-kraft-slowing-penn-state-coaching-search/

[5] James Franklin's Confidant Keeps Penn State Stuck. (2024, December). EssentiallySports. https://www.essentiallysports.com/ncaa-college-football-news-james-franklins-confidant-keeps-penn-state-stuck

[9] James Franklin's Recruiting Success Exposes Penn State Coaching Search Disaster. (2024, December). OutKick. https://www.outkick.com/sports/penn-state-coaching-search-collapse-james-franklin-recruiting-virginia-tech

[16] Encore Search Partners CEO Predicts Major Shifts in 2026 Hiring. (2024, December). The AI Journal. https://aijourn.com/encore-search-partners-ceo-predicts-major-shifts-in-2026-hiring/

[20] Millman Search. (2025). A Step-by-Step Guide to the Executive Recruitment Process. https://millmansearch.com/insights/search-fundamentals/executive-recruitment-process/

[29] MGC Coaching. (2020). Meet The Agent For Executives In The Sports And Entertainment Industry. https://www.mgccoaching.com/blog/2019/11/22/what-is-it-like-to-be-an-agent-for-executives-in-the-sports-and-entertainment-industry

[33] Procopio, J. (2025). A Warning About Gatekeepers in the Hiring Process. Inc. https://www.inc.com/joe-procopio/a-warning-about-gatekeepers-in-the-hiring-process/91194104

[35] Schwarz, D. (2023). Board recruiters are the gatekeeper to many non-executive board roles. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/board-recruiters-gatekeeper-many-non-executive-roles-david-j-schwarz

[40] MPG Talent Solutions. Mitigating Executive Hiring Risks The Role of Professional Search Firms. https://www.mpgtalentsolutions.com/us/en/insights/mitigating-executive-hiring-risks-the-role-of-professional-search-firms

[42] Executive Career Brand. (2025). Smart Executive Job Search: How To Sail Through Salary Negotiations. https://executivecareerbrand.com/executive-job-search-salary-compensation-negotiations/

[44] Pavilion. (2025). 2025 Executive Compensation Negotiation: How B2B SaaS Leaders Can Maximize Pay & Equity. https://www.joinpavilion.com/blog/executive-compensation-negotiation-tactics