Matt Campbell Wants to 'Unify' Penn State, Starting With Its Lettermen

The Penn State coach has held Zoom calls with Nittany Lions lettermen. "I think they feel the love," Terry Smith said.

Penn State Nittany Lions football coach Matt Campbell waves to the crowd during a Big Ten wrestling match against Nebraska. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In between hiring his staff, meeting with every player on the Penn State football roster, hosting more than 100 transfer prospects and visiting recruits to fill future classes, Matt Campbell set up Zoom calls with the past. The new coach met with Penn State football lettermen by decade, starting with Nittany Lions from the 50s to the most recent classes of the 2010s and '20s.

Terry Smith, Penn State's associate head coach and himself a member of the Football Letterman's Club, sat in on some of those calls. He found Campbell genuine in his approach to connecting with Penn State's football past.

"Yeah, it's real," Smith said recently during a media event at Beaver Stadium. "We're doing Zooms, and he's opened himself up. He's opened up the Lasch Building to all lettermen and their families. He's consciously trying to pull them back in and he's doing a fantastic job. The feedback has been tremendous. It's not just talk."

Campbell introduced himself to Penn State players, fans and, yes, its huge and involved Letterman's Club at an emotional December news conference where he specifically acknowledged the program's history. He referenced Joe Paterno, Jack Ham, Todd Blackledge and Matt Millen in describing what he has called the program's "superpower" more than once.

"I walked into Lasch, and [saw] this incredible lettermen wall, 2,200 names," Campbell said in December. "You could almost feel goosebumps going down the side of your arms looking at some of these incredible names. Some of the best ever to play the sport of football. You knew their excellence and what they stood for: a blue-blood football program, no question."

RELATED: How Terry Smith's role has changed, and grown, under Matt Campbell

'Our greatest gift is those that came before us'

The legacy continues.#WeAre | #MadeInHappyValley pic.twitter.com/1jg3IrArRC

— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) February 12, 2026

Since then, Campbell has made Penn State's football lettermen a conscious part of his approach to building the program. First, he retained or hired multiple members of the Letterman's Club. Ten former Nittany Lions popular Campbell's staff, led by Smith, the 2025 interim head coach whom Campbell made one of his first hiring priorities.

Campbell hired former Penn State cornerback D'Anton Lynn as his defensive coordinator and retained several key members of the coaching staff, notably assistant linebackers coach Dan Connor and assistant quarterbacks coach Trace McSorley.

Former Nittany Lions Jordan Hill and Alan Zemaitis work in key development and recruiting roles, while longtime academics coordinator Todd Kulka retained his position. Campbell also brought in Deon'Tae Pannell as an assistant defensive line coach.

Former Penn State coach James Franklin also hired plenty of lettermen, taking several (including offensive coordinator Ty Howle) with him to Virginia Tech. However, Campbell said he wants to go beyond hiring in making sure the lettermen feel they have a role in Penn State's success.

"Our greatest gift is those that came before us," Campbell said. "It's still one of the absolute joys that you have walking in that facility every day and you see the names that have played and coached and the tradition that has come before us.

"I'll be honest with you. I've really tried to work really hard and will continue to work really hard at unifying and aligning our history, our former players back involved in our football program, because I think it's so critical. It's what makes Penn State football really special. It's what has made the greatest time and the greatest eras and the greatest moments in this history of Penn State football. It makes it an honor to represent every day."

'I think they feel the love'

Penn State’s Matt Campbell is meeting the media for the first time since being introduced in December.

Here, he discusses Penn State’s football history and connecting with past players and coaches. pic.twitter.com/WbdWNPsmP3

— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) February 4, 2026

Smith said that the Nittany Lions lettermen have appreciated Campbell's effort to connect with them.

"I think the lettermen have felt the importance of it," Smith said. "I think they feel the love. They now know it's genuine. You know, hopefully more of them come back, because it's always good to have those guys around and mentor our current guys. We just can't get enough of that."

Taylor Mouser, Penn State's new offensive coordinator, is one of Campbell's most trusted assistants. The two have worked together since 2015, when Campbell hired Mouser as a graduate assistant at Toledo. Mouser followed Campbell to Iowa State, working his way up to offensive coordinator.

Like Campbell, Mouser said he has felt the impact of Penn State's Letterman's Club and a responsibility to include the former players in the program.

"Don't come to school here if you don't care about the people that played before you," Mouser said. "You can't come be their coach at Penn State if you don't care about the history of decades and decades and decades of sacrifice.

"... Watching [Beaver] Stadium get built. I saw a video of how that's changed. It's changed because of what people have sacrificed at this place to make it special. [Campbell] knows that, and our guys will play harder because they know the Letterman's Club here is different than anywhere else in the country. They take care of the people here, so you have to go out there and play to respect what those people have done. And Coach Campbell cares about that, and we're constantly reminding our guys of that, from our staff to our players. It means more. It's different."

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