Penn State Earns High Marks for Matt Campbell Hire

ESPN's Bill Connolly gives the Nittany Lions an "A" for hiring Campbell from Iowa State.

Matt Campbell is announced as the Penn State Nittany Lions new head coach during a press conference at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Penn State continues to bask in the glow of hiring Matt Campbell, which generated plenty of goodwill for the program. Particularly after a search that Athletic Director Pat Kraft said was worthy of a "Netflix documentary."

And the congratulations continue for Penn State. ESPN's Bill Connolly graded the major college football coaching hires of the cycle, giving Penn State an "A" for its ability to pry Campbell from Iowa State, where he spent half of his 10 seasons turning down offers from elsewhere.

Penn State was among seven programs to which Connolly awarded "A" grades for their hires (Virginia Tech received one as well for hiring James Franklin). Campbell's success at Iowa State, which included an 11-win season in 2024, is a match for Penn State, according to Connolly.

"The problem for almost anyone Penn State hired was going to be that he wouldn't have a résumé that stacked up with that of the guy it just fired (Franklin)," Connolly wrote. "Campbell comes about as close as one can get."

Campbell certainly has drawn attention to Penn State. According to Penn State's communiations staff, Campbell's hiring has generated more than 24 million impressions on social media, worth more than $650,000 in earned media.

RELATED: What they're saying about Penn State's hire of Matt Campbell

Penn State & The Campbell Effect 📈

PSU's Matt Campbell rollout totaled 24M+ impressions across @PennStateFball social channels, earning $658,831 in social value.

These impressions ranked No. 1 across all college football team accounts over that time period.#WeAre pic.twitter.com/lSX2nV9eGf

— Penn State Football Communications (@PennStFBComms) December 22, 2025

Meanwhile, Matt Millen of the Big Ten Network said Penn State hit a "grand slam" in hiring Campbell. Millen got to know Campbell while he was coaching at Toledo and called the coach one of the great teachers in college football.

"Matt can walk into any town with his baseball hat on and have a conversation with anybody about football or anything about life in general," Millen said in an interview. "Matt is just so down to earth. That's the first part. That's the first piece about about him that I really loved. He's just a regular guy.

"The second thing is, his Xs and Os are really good, and he knows how to develop kids. And so he's going to get a higher-grade kid now [at Penn State], but he just has a way of developing guys. He can take players from A to B and elevate them, which is not easy to do. Some guys have it, some guys don't. He does."

The positive reaction to Campbell's hire certainly pleases Penn State, which positioned him as the most natural fit for the job. Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi said the move ushered in a "new day for Penn State."

"I have the highest level of confidence in Coach Campbell as he works to build this football program that brings a new era of winning to our university, that places our student-athletes' success on the field, in the classroom and in life at the center of everything we do, that meets the challenges of a changing college sports landscape while also seizing the new opportunities that lie ahead for us, and that stands unwavering in its commitment to integrity," Bendapudi said.

Penn State Athletic Director Pat Kraft went further at the introductory press conference, calling Campbell "hard-nosed, humble, and relentless" and saying that the coach is "built for championships."

"Penn State football today emerges tougher, clearer, and more driven than ever before, and we turn a page to a new era," Kraft said. "We are introducing a leader who embodies everything Penn State stands for: A builder, a fighter, a standard bearer of what this place can be at its very best. A coach whose teams compete with a chip on their shoulder and conviction in their hearts. A coach who's committed to shaping complete men, mind, body, character, and purpose, because he believes greatness is forged way beyond just the practice fields."

According to ESPN's Connolly, Virginia Tech also entered a new era by hiring former Penn State coach James Franklin.

"No matter how the run at PSU ended, for Tech to land someone with that type of résumé was an absolute coup," Connolly wrote.

Penn State coach Matt Campbell invokes Todd Blackledge, Joe Paterno and Kyle Brady in his introduction. pic.twitter.com/Ikjy9iejgv

— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) December 8, 2025

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