How Penn State Plans to Become the 'Most Violent' Team in College Football

Strength coach Reid Kagy details his vision and plan for the Nittany Lions.

Penn State football strength and conditioning coach Reid Kagy talks to the players during the 23rd annual Lift for Life event at Holuba Hall. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

STATE COLLEGE | Reid Kagy followed Matt Campbell from Iowa State to Penn State to be the football team’s director of strength and conditioning, and he has two goals for the Nittany Lions this 2026 season.

Kagy wants to train Penn State to become the “most violent team” in college football while also building relationships with each other. The Nittany Lions have only eight hours per week for workouts during the summer, so they’re focused on these tasks.

“If there's something in the program that's either not dialed in towards one of those two things, it's probably a waste of our time,” Kagy said Wednesday at Lift For Life. “We don't have endless time with our guys, so we got to focus on the big rocks. They're going to make an impact on the field and keep them on the field. We're going to make sure we hammer away on those.”

Kagy wants his work to improve the players’ performance on the field. He said traits like power, speed, strength, resiliency, toughness, grit and fortitude go into that, so Penn State is tracking all of that through the Catapult vests players wear.

By monitoring players’ metrics, Kagy can show them how they’re improving physically. He also wants players to “build up armor” so they can be more durable when taking hits, preventing injuries from taking them off the field.

A cool clip from Penn State strength coach Reid Kagy's first presser in Happy Valley. The goal is to become "the most violent team in the nation." Full Q&A over at Lions247. https://t.co/vOezQnyIG5 pic.twitter.com/vxIcYMEwdJ

— Mark Brennan (@MarkXBrennan) July 1, 2026

Lift For Life offered the first look at one of Kagy’s summer workouts. Players competed in conditioning drills such as a medicine-ball relay, a sled push, pull-ups and more.

Kagy said the goal of summer workouts is to prepare for fall camp, and the players know what they’re doing now will be important once the season starts.

“I think building really good habits is really important in the summer,” linebacker Cael Brezina said. “Coach Campbell harps on it a lot, like, ‘Man, what you do right now, the season's gonna come calling at some point, and it's gonna ask if what you were doing in the summer was doing the right stuff.’”

Building relationships through training

Penn State linebacker Tony Rojas listens to strength and conditioning coach Reid Kagy during the 23rd annual Lift for Life at Holuba Hall. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

While developing the Nittany Lions physically, Kagy also wants to make sure players continue building relationships. He believes the “most together teams” are the most successful teams, which is why Penn State started training together in January.

When asked about which players have stuck out to him so far, Kagy didn’t mention anyone in particular. He said there’s a “long list,” but the team-building relationships as a whole has stuck out to him.

“The thing that stood out to me the most is just the entire team embracing and coming together as a team,” Kagy said. “From the relationship standpoint, what they've done as a team, how they've come together, how they fight for each other, how they care about each other is probably the most important thing.”

Kagy said he’s using this time to learn about all of the players so he can “push the right buttons at the right time.” The Nittany Lions have 55 new players on the roster, and Iowa State transfer Jamison Patton referred to summer workouts as another opportunity to be around his teammates.

Penn State is building relationships through its physical development this summer but also recognizing its training history. Kagy said he’s retaining the record board, which shows the program records in various strength and conditioning metrics, in the weight room at the Lasch Football Building. Kagy wants to honor the alumni who made the board, and it could also be used as a goal for current Nittany Lions to etch their names on it.

“We're trying to get faster, we're trying to get stronger, we're trying to be more powerful, we're trying to have the ability to repeat efforts,” Kagy said. “We're trying to be disciplined, tough, physical on the field.”

Watch Kagy's full media session at Lift For Life, courtesy of Blue-White Illustrated.

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