Evaluating Matt Campbell's First Offensive Coaching Staff at Penn State

Campbell brought several members of his offensive staff with him from Iowa State.

Iowa State Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell celebrates with quarterback Rocco Becht (3) after he scores a touchdown against the Cincinnati Bearcats in the first half at Nippert Stadium. | Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

Penn State coach Matt Campbell spent the last month deliberately rebuilding a Nittany Lions roster that underperformed to a 7-6 record in 2025. However, he also moved quickly to assemble his first Penn State football coaching staff.

Campbell retained only two Penn State coaches in prominent roles — associate head coach and cornerbacks coach Terry Smith and special teams coordinator Justin Lustig —  but still filled his staff to the brim with quality fits. 

Let’s get to know Penn State’s new offensive coaches.

RELATED: Evaluating Matt Campbell's first transfer class at Penn State

Taylor Mouser: Offensive coordinator/tight ends

Iowa State offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser talks to the media during the university’s football media availability. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK

Mouser spent the last 10 seasons with Campbell at Iowa State, the last two as offensive coordinator. In 2024, Mouser’s first season running the offense, the Cyclones averaged 31.1 points per game, the fifth-most in school history.

He helped develop NFL receivers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel, who both contribute extensively for the Houston Texans. FootballScoop names Mouser as its 2025 tight ends coach of the year in his final season with the Cyclones.

Campbell brought Mouser with him from Toledo to Iowa State in 2016. Mouser spent time as a graduate assistant and in the scouting and quality control departments at Iowa State before becoming tight ends coach in 2021. He also was Campbell’s assistant head coach for a season. 

Interestingly, Mouser was a defensive lineman at Division II Adams State from 2009-13.

Ryan Clanton: Offensive line

Iowa State Cyclones wide receiver Brett Eskildsen (9) celebrates with offensive line coach Ryan Clanton after scoring a touchdown against Kansas. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Clanton was Iowa State’s offensive line coach the past three seasons and the program’s run-game coordinator in 2024. Under Clanton, the Cyclones’ ground attack continued to grow, jumping from 108. rushing yards per game to 160.5 in 2024 and 174.5 last season.  

Clanton’s offensive line allowed just 51 combined sacks from 2023-25, the eighth-fewest among Power Four teams in that span. He developed offensive tackle Jalen Travis, who last year became the first Iowa State offensive lineman drafted since 2013.

In a five-year stint at Northern Iowa, Clanton helped develop tackle Trevor Penning, a first-round pick in 2022 by the New Orleans Saints, and right tackle Spencer Brown, a third-round pick by the Buffalo Bills in 2021.

Clanton played at Oregon as a left tackle, left guard and right guard under Chip Kelly, spending three seasons with the Ducks. 

RELATED: Where Penn State stands in the way-too-early 2026 college football rankings

Jake Waters: Quarterbacks

Kansas State Wildcats fans celebrate with quarterback Jake Waters after their win against the Iowa State Cyclones at Jack Trice Stadium. | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

Waters spent the past six seasons with the Cyclones, including two years as their quarterbacks coach. He helped develop new Penn State quarterback Rocco Becht, who has thrown for 9,274 career yards, including a career-high 3,5050 in Iowa State’s 11-win 2024 season.  

He was a two-year starting quarterback at Kansas State from 2013-14, going 17-9 and earning All-Big 12 honors. 

Waters began his coaching career as a volunteer quarterbacks coach at Iowa Western Community College, where he played before transferring to Kansas State. Penn State fans might remember former Nittany Lions coach Bill O’Brien recruiting Waters in 2013.  

Noah Pauley: Wide receivers

Iowa State's wide receiver coach Noah Pauley talks to the media at the school football facility. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK

Pauley was the wide receivers coach at Iowa State from 2023-25, which included a two-year stint as the pass-game coordinator. FootballScoop recognized Pauly as its receivers coach of the year in 2024, when he mentored Higgins and Noel to become the first duo in Cyclones history to tally 1,000 receiving yards in a season. 

Wide receivers Brett Eskildsen and Chase Sowell, who followed Pauley and Campbell to Penn State, earned All-Big 12 honorable mentions in 2025 under Pauley’s stewardship. Pauley was a four-year starting receiver at Minnesota-Duluth from 2007-10, winning two Division II national championships. Pauley also was UMD’s offensive coordinator for three seasons before joining the North Dakota State staff in 2019.

RELATED: How long will Matt Campbell need to make Penn State a playoff team?

Savon Huggins: Running backs

Rutgers Scarlet Knights running back Savon Huggins (28) stretches before the game against the Louisville Cardinals at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. | Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

Huggins is the lone offensive coach who didn’t work at Iowa State last season. He joined Campbell’s staff after four years at Boston College, which included the 2023 season when the Eagles ran for 2,584 yards and 4.71 yards per carry (198.8 yards per game). 

Huggins’ stint with Boston College began in 2021 as the assistant running backs coach, and he was promoted to running backs coach in 2022. Huggins began his college coaching career at Buffalo in 2020, working with the receivers. 

Huggins was a top prospect from New Jersey, who Penn State recruited, but who ultimately chose Rutgers. He ultimately rushed for 842 career yards with the Scarlet Knights and missed his senior year due to an injury. Huggins then transferred in 2015 to Northern Iowa, where he ran for 232 yards in his final season. 

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