How Kashif Moore Intends to Revive Penn State's Receivers Room

Penn State wide receivers coach Kashif Moore had a “unique interview process” with head coach Matt Campbell, as he described it. When former Penn State receivers coach Noah Pauley departed after two months for the same role with the Green Bay Packers, Matt Campbell and company didn’t have much time to find a replacement.

So they had an accelerated interview process with Moore and really hit it off. Where they agreed most wasn’t in schemes or system but in the teaching process. That will be important, as Moore seeks to revive a position group that struggled in recent years.

“I think the holistic approach to building the young man, right?” Moore said during Penn State’s spring drills in April. “It's more about the Xs and Os. Obviously, we're here to win games and do something special here with the high expectations and the high standards of excellence here at Penn State.

“But the holistic approach, when it comes to academics, holding guys accountable to everything, both on and off the field. We're trying to build future husbands and fathers that are going to be successful people when football is long and gone.”

A quick move to Penn State

Really appreciate @KashifMoore and @T_Mouser for making the trip to Woodbine, IA for a home visit‼️Had a great time spending the day and showing Coach Moore around Woodbine also!! #WeAre @PennStateFball pic.twitter.com/RBTfoe15qV
— Landon Blum (@landon_blum) May 13, 2026

Moore came to Penn State following his own quick turnaround. He spent three seasons coaching wide receivers at UConn before moving to Colorado State with head coach Jim Mora. Similar to Pauley, he was just at his new job with the Rams for less than two months when Penn State offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser called. The process took just a few days in February.

Moore, who played at UConn and spent time with several NFL teams, has a compelling resume. Most notably, Moore developed UConn wide receiver Skyler Bell into a 2025 Biletnikoff Award finalist. Bell was also drafted in the fourth round by the Buffalo Bills.

At Penn State, the values he and Campbell share go beyond the football field. Moore said he’s a “relationship-type coach” and is eager to develop his receivers off the field.

“Being able to get on the phone before I even got here with some of the wide receivers and try to establish a relationship [was important],” Moore said. “Day 1 and I was here bringing guys up to meet with them 1-on-1, [which] was very important to me. So to figure out those guys’ why, to learn about their backgrounds and why they're here and learn about their family was the first step in my process.”

On the field, Campbell said that Moore has done a great job with individual development. He noted the young wide receiver room outside of Chase Sowell and Brett Eskildsen and how they are all freshmen and redshirt freshmen.

Campbell said that the wide receiver room is finally starting to identify a mentality of, “how you're going to block on the perimeter, how you're going to attack the football, how you're going to separate from the top of your route.”

“Development was the key [when finding a wide receivers coach],” Campbell said. “A guy that's developing his own self into a great wide receiver, had a great playing career, and then you saw what he did with those guys at UConn, and you watched some of those guys and what those guys were able to do in a place where development had to be the key to your success. And you've seen that early on. I think that group has grown immensely, and he's a great developer of the wide receiver position.”

A winning interview for Moore

Broke bread with the guys! #WeAre pic.twitter.com/3h3Uy8rSUF
— Kashif Moore (@KashifMoore) March 4, 2026

What stood out to Campbell most about Moore during the interview process?

“His ability to articulate the teaching of the wide receiver fundamentals and the detail that it takes to play wide receiver,” Campbell said. “I think that's the biggest thing that you just don't know, right? It is somebody that you don't know, but the ability to articulate, what are those key factors?

"What are those key separation points that are the fundamental detail that you have to do to be able to play wide receiver at a really high rate. I think again, when you played it, and then you have the ability to articulate it and teach it, and you watch that teaching progression with your own players. I think those things are really important. I thought he did a great job of that.”

Teaching methods aside, Moore might have been destined to eventually land in Happy Valley. He said he was recruited “pretty heavily” by Penn State in the late 2000s and that it was always a “dream school of mine.”

He said he visited Penn State for camp and played “pretty well,” eventually touring the facilities when everyone left.

“That's something I talked about during my interview process,” Moore said. “Being a kid from South Jersey, from Burlington, New Jersey, about three hours Southeast of here, my first college experience and watching college football was watching Penn State. So, this was a dream school for me.

“Watching Michael Robinson throw to Deon Butler. And Derrick Williams and just a young Justin King out there, just watching those guys fly around, make plays really motivated me. Motivated me to get to this level.”

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