Evaluating Matt Campbell's First Transfer Class at Penn State

Campbell has signed 39 players from the portal, including 23 of his former Iowa State Cyclones.

Penn State Nittany Lions coach Matt Campbell answers questions during a press conference at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Two years ago, when the Big Ten was still split into divisions, Indiana went winless in the East and won only one conference game. This year, the Hoosiers went 16-0 and are national champions. 

When Curt Cignetti took over Indiana in 2024 after spending five years as the head coach at James Madison, 13 of his players followed. It’s a similar story with Matt Campbell leaving Iowa State for Penn State, though it’s obviously way too early to tell whether Campbell can replicate what Cignetti did at Indiana. 

Penn State revamped most of its roster in the transfer portal, signing 39 transfers, including 23 former Cyclones. There’s a reason for that strategy.  

“I think this is partially why so many schools wanted to hire sitting head coaches this year,” said Ryan Snyder, recruiting analyst for Blue-White Illustrated of the On3 network. “Because they know you have to bring those top guys from your current roster, if you can, to hit the ground running.”

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

Will it work for Penn State as well?

Iowa State Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell celebrates with quarterback Rocco Becht after defeating the West Virginia Mountaineers at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium. | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

Under former coach James Franklin, Penn State was never a major player in the transfer portal. But Campbell had to be, with 50 players from the 2025 roster entering when it opened Jan. 2. It was expected that several of his Iowa State players would follow Campbell, just as a dozen Nittany Lions followed Franklin to Virginia Tech. But Penn State also added 16 other transfers in that two-week window.

College football is still relatively new to the NIL era, and its impact on recruiting and the allure of the transfer portal mean that simply seeking older talent isn’t a sustainable approach. 

“At the end of the day, it’s just whether they can adapt to this level and have the guys in the current locker room mesh with these new guys and come together as a team,” Snyder said. “Everybody saw what Indiana did, and that’s kind of the model they’re shooting for. Whether that’s easy to do or not, time will tell.”

During his introductory press conference, Campbell discussed his approach to recruiting and the portal at Penn State. 

“The flash, the stars, that’s cool on Signing Day, but winning football games on Saturday is what we’re going to be about,” Campbell said in December.

Snyder believes that Penn State fans could have mixed feelings about that statement and that Campbell needs to find a “middle ground” regarding how he intends to navigate recruiting and the transfer portal. 

“Penn State fans aren’t going to accept recruiting classes [ranking] in the 40s,” Snyder said. “They’re not going to accept only a handful of four-star guys and missing out on the top five-stars. That comment was very interesting to me, because it played well to a segment of fans that don’t follow recruiting and care about just wins, and that makes sense. But I also think there’s a segment of fans that think Penn State had a very talented roster and they needed better coaching to get them over the top.”

Penn State’s portal performance

Penn State Nittany Lions coach Matt Campbell poses with a jersey during a press conference at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Penn State had a variety of position groups to address in the portal, with defensive end and wide receiver being high priorities. At defensive end, Max Granville and Yvan Kemajou stuck with Penn State, but it’s a young room that has a lot to prove.

“It’s going to be interesting,” Snyder said regarding how Penn State handles the position group. “I really like Alexander McPherson. I think he’s a good young player who’s out of Colorado.” 

Iowa State’s Ike Ezeogu is the other defensive end to transfer to Penn State. Jackson Ford, a 4-star high school recruit, will also be new to the room this season. The Nittany Lions saw six edge players leave through the portal. 

Before the 2025 season, Penn State tried to remedy its wide receiver problem in the portal, which didn’t pan out as expected. Once again, it remains a need for the Nittany Lions. So far, Snyder said he likes what he has seen from several of the transfer receivers, who include Iowa State’s Chase Sowell and Brett Eskildsen.  

How quickly these new additions can make an impact for Penn State will be interesting to watch as the depth chart starts taking shape.

Does Terry Smith still have an impact on recruiting?

Penn State Nittany Lions interim head coach Terry Smith celebrates after defeating the Clemson Tigers in the 2025 Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Before Terry Smith became the program’s interim head coach, he played a large role in recruiting, specifically in western Pennsylvania and Philadelphia. Penn State retained four cornerbacks, the position Smith coaches, as the group remained largely intact with him staying on staff.

“Terry’s always been the associate head coach. He’s always been kind of No. 2 in command, even under James, so I think that certainly played a role in some guys staying,” Snyder said. “One of the biggest things is how it helps this new staff assimilate to Mid-Atlantic recruiting and everybody that he knows and his success.”

Campbell said that recruiting in the Northeast is his priority and that Smith will be essential to building future classes.

“You’re in the most fertile ground of the excellence of high school football in a six- to eight-hour radius,” Campbell said back in December. “Everything will start with building high school football and continuing to do a great job in this state and our surrounding states. Nobody is going to attack more than us.”

Will Penn State always be this active in the portal?

Penn State Nittany Lions coach Matt Campbell answers questions from the media during a press conference at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Building a roster takes time, and Campbell has a lot of work ahead to get Penn State back into viable contention for championships. Penn State might not use the portal this much every offseason, but that’s hard to predict. Snyder said. 

“I’ve got this question all the time on message board stuff, too,” Snyder said. “I think it’s really another one of those questions that it's going to take even more than a year, I think, to really sort it out because even this next year, I still expect it to be probably heavier portal than what fans are used to and what Campbell would want to do regularly.”

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