5 Things to Know About New Penn State Coach Matt Campbell

Campbell takes over the Nittany Lions' program after 10 seasons at Iowa State.

Iowa State Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell motions to the referees during the second half against the Arizona State Sun Devils at AT&T Stadium. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Penn State is hiring Iowa State’s Matt Campbell as its new head coach, per multiple reports Friday night, According to the Centre Daily Times’ Jon Sauber, Campbell and Penn State agreed to an eight-year deal. The contract still requires approval from the Penn State Board of Trustees’ Committee on Equity and Human Resources. 

Once finalized, the deal would end an eight-week search to find the replacement for former Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin. It also represents a significant financial investment into the program, according to national college football reporter Matt Fortuna.

SOURCES: Penn State is committing roughly $30 million in NIL money and $17 million in staff pool (assistant coaches, support staff, etc.) to Matt Campbell. pic.twitter.com/CSw9JDIzD1

— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) December 6, 2025

The move comes just days after Penn State's previous top target, BYU’s Kalani Sitake, turned down an offer and signed a long-term extension with the Cougars. With the long wait finally over, here are five things to know about Penn State’s potential next head coach. 

Campbell won at a struggling FBS program 

Iowa State Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell reacts in the third quarter of a game vs. the Cincinnati Bearcats. | Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After spending four years at Toledo, Campbell took over an Iowa State program in 2016 that was in rough shape. The Cyclones began the season with the sixth-most losses in college football history (671) , had just one winning season from 2006-15 and were bowl eligible in only four of those 10 years. Additionally, Iowa State combined for an 8-28 record during the three seasons before Campbell became head coach. 

Campbell has led the Cyclones to eight bowl seasons in 10 years, is 72-55 and in 2024 guided the program to its first 11-win season and second top-15 finish in the AP Top 25. Campbell’s team finished in the top-25 of the AP poll twice in 10 years. Iowa State has done that just twice in its other 118 seasons.

Campbell is Iowa State’s winningest coach with the best career winning percentage (.567) in Ames. His 72 wins are tied with former TCU head coach Gary Patterson for the seventh among Big 12 coaches, and Campbell has won three Big 12 Coach of the Year awards (2017, 2018, 2020).

Campbell does more with less

Iowa State football head coach Matt Campbell high-fives with fans as he leads the Cyclones onto the field vs. the BYU Cougars. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Iowa hasn’t been an attractive destination for high-end recruits. Campbell’s highest-ranked recruiting class was 39th, per the 247Sports Composite. However, he has consistently churned out winning seasons. Leading up to his historic 11-win campaign in 2024, Campbell had the 59th-rated recruiting class in 2021, 39th in 2022, 42nd in 2023 and 55th in 2024. 

Despite the mid-level resources, Campbell is 18-28 against ranked opponents in his career, including a 4-6 record against AP top-10 teams at Iowa State. For perspective, Franklin was 4-21 at Penn State against top-10 opponents and 17-27 against ranked teams, according to CBSSports’ Brad Crawford.

It will be interesting to see what Campbell does with Penn State’s resources, notably the NIL budget as reported above.

Campbell’s recruiting and coaching philosophy 

Iowa State Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell looks on during the first half against the TCU Horned Frogs. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Campbell worked with a unique recruiting perspective at Iowa State, In a 2024 interview with national college football analyst Josh Pate, Campbell said that the No. 1 thing he and his staff look at in their recruiting process is, “How do you handle expectations?”

“Through the recruiting journey, it can’t just be, ‘What does the highlight tape say? What does the highlight video look like? What’s he at his best,’” Campbell told Pate. “We’ve always looked for character. That football character piece for us has always been really big. What’s it look like on game video? What’s it look like when you’re not at your best? How do you respond to adversity?”

Campbell added that he wants to build a football program where athletes and their families can feel “confident and safe.” He’s a culture-based coach, much like Franklin was at Penn State. Campbell said in the interview that, as the landscape of college football has changed, he and Iowa State have “doubled down on culture.”

He wants to build an environment where his athletes can be confident in their growth. Campbell said it was really hard to leave Toledo after four-plus years as head coach for the Cyclones, and his goal as a coach at Iowa State was to “be able to lay roots and build something different and something that’s really special that can stand for something.”

He rarely utilizes the transfer portal

Since 2020, Campbell has orchestrated transfer portal classes that ranked 82nd, 75th, 110th, 83rd, 79th and 59th. That won’t be feasible in Year 1 with the Nittany Lions, especially after a two-player 2026 recruiting class and plenty of key seniors leaving the program, with other players likely to depart. 

At least for the first season, Campbell will have to change his transfer portal, which he no doubt understands. But after that, Campbell’s portal policy will be interesting to watch, particularly with the reported budget he's receiving.

Could Campbell help Penn State retain quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer?

Penn State QB Ethan Grunkemeyer has a connection with Iowa State coach Matt Campbell, having visited Ames in 2022. https://t.co/a0jCcb7bi3

— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) December 5, 2025

Penn State interim head coach Terry Smith has called Ethan Grunkemeyer the program’s quarterback of the future. It might help that Grunkemeyer made two recruiting visits to Iowa State in 2022 and has some familiarity with Campbell. 

Grunkemeyer was pivotal to Penn State’s second-half rebound in 2025 after making his first career start at Iowa. He’s averaging 162.3 yards passing per game and has a completion rate of 69.4 percent.

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