For Penn State Football, Closing the Talent Gap Means Closing the Checkbook Gap

The relationship between money and winning college football games continues to be something of a Rorschach test. You see what you want to see. Better players often lead to better results, but when push comes to shove, your fourth-and-five call comes down to something more than dollars and cents.

That said, there is an undeniable truth. The teams that spend more money on roster management, allocation and retention tend to win more games. At its core, college football is a game won largely with talent.

This fact was further hammered home in a report by The Athletic on Wednesday that assessed Penn State’s roster budget to be just north of $30 million annually. The figure falls behind Big Ten teams Nebraska, Michigan, Indiana, USC, Oregon and Ohio State — in that order.

Nationally, Penn State slots in at No. 22, which, in the grand scheme of things, is well above most everyone else. The question, of course, is what the number ought to be relative to the program’s own goals. Ohio State leads the nation with an estimated budget between $49 million and $54 million, not quite double Penn State’s but not exactly in the neighborhood either.

"If School X has a number, and we're supposed to be competing with School X, why would our number be different?" former Penn State coach James Franklin said in 2022.

Of course, Penn State’s losses to Ohio State have not been particularly lopsided and generally not decided by glaring personnel discrepancies. In turn, it’s not out of the question that the Nittany Lions could close the on-field gap without having to close the checkbook gap. Check back on that front in two years when the Nittany Lions take on Ohio State again.

In the meantime, it will be interesting to see how that budget number changes for Penn State in the coming months and years. To not hold serve with the highest-paying programs in the nation is ultimately a risk and a gamble, one you might argue comes with hiring Matt Campbell.

Penn State Nittany Lions athletic director Pat Kraft (right) speaks with head coach Matt Campbell (left). — Penn State Nittany Lions athletic director Pat Kraft (right) speaks with head coach Matt Campbell (left) following the game against the Marshall Thundering Herd at Beaver Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Campbell’s entire calling card is getting more out of less. The caveat is that Iowa State's starting point and long, unimpressive history made exceeding expectations with limited resources easier there than doing the same at Penn State.

This isn’t to say Campbell can’t do it. But early recruiting returns have been lukewarm, and the jury is still very much out on how Campbell’s teams will perform in any games of note.

Then again, Campbell still has to prove he can guide the Nittany Lions to those marquee games with the same regularity as his predecessor. Whatever Franklin’s flaws might have been, Campbell must prove, at a minimum, that he can maintain the status quo.

If he can do that, and squeeze a bit more juice out of the roster than Franklin could, then getting over that hump might not be out of the question. If he can’t, then perhaps Athletic Director Pat Kraft and his administration will have to figure out how to close the money gap instead of trying to win like No. 1 in the Big Ten while spending like No. 7.

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