Penn State Football's Matt Campbell: 'We're Not Going to Win at All Costs'

On his debut episode of the Penn State Coaches Show, Matt Campbell was asked about the winter process of building a new roster, the one his general manager called "very chaotic."

"It almost killed me," Campbell joked.

That Penn State football roster, which debuts Saturday at Beaver Stadium against Marshall, is one of the most unique in program history. The numbers are eye-opening:

More than 55 percent of the players (62 of 112) are new to the program as transfers or true freshmen.

Forty players transferred to Penn State this offseason from 17 different schools

Twenty-four of those transfers are from Iowa State

Pennsylvania (28) still dominate the roster. But Penn State also has more players from Texas, Iowa and Oklahoma (18 combined) than it does from the traditional recruiting regions of New York, New Jersey and Maryland (17).

So as Campbell said this week, trust has been a singular value in program-building since the Nittany Lions began winter workouts in January. But Campbell also framed the complex task of trust-building around a simple explanation of the game his team plays.

"College football is the greatest game of screw-up known to mankind," Campbell said. "You have to screw it up less than the team across from you."

Penn State's Matt Campbell with a simple diagnosis of winning inside an explanation of how complex that is.

"College football is the greatest game of screw-up known to mankind. You have to screw it up less than the team across from you."

📽️Penn State Athletics pic.twitter.com/pGV9aqu3yK
— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) September 1, 2026

To play for him, Campbell said he has six qualities players must achieve, beginning with trust. "The No. 1 value is, you have to be trusted," the head coach said.

Campbell has used that framework across 15 years as a head coach at Toledo and Iowa State. That hasn't changed in his first season at Penn State, even though he had differing levels of relationships with players on the roster. It also hasn't changed the way Campbell said he views winning in college football.

"We're not going to win at all costs," he said.

How Matt Campbell defines trust on his team

Penn State Nittany Lions football coach Matt Campbell answers a question during a press conference in Holuba Hall. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

So what does trust mean to Campbell and his staff? He explained that this week as the Nittany Lions prepare for their first game of 2026.

"I think 'trusted' means your ability to do everything right on and off the football field," he said. "Again, you've heard me say this a lot: We're not going to win at all costs, we're going to win the right way, we're going to win with guys that do the right thing, that carry themselves the right way on the field, but they carry themselves right off the field. If not, you're only going to get beat anyway, right?

"At some point, at some moment when we need you the most, you can't live to that standard, you're going to cost our football team. That value is carried really heavy in our program. We talk about it on a daily basis. But it's why we put standards and expectations in academics, nutrition, strength and conditioning. We do it all for these moments, right?

"[You have] 12 games of 60 minutes that are guaranteed to you. You got to win the moments and you got to win more of them than you do screw 'hem up, right? College football is the greatest game of screw-up known to mankind. You have to screw it up less than the team across from you.

"When you talk about it that way, man, trust is a critical value in our football team. Some guys are great play-makers, but may not be trusted all the time. I think you got to find that great balancing act and understand when you put a guy on the field, that guy has had to earn the right to be on the football field. One of those seven values, but trusted is certainly the most. Sometimes it's not who starts, but who is in in those critical moments when it matters the most.

"That trust value is really big for me. It's why we grade every practice. It's why we hold high standards in everything we try to do within our football program."

Penn State opens the 2026 season Saturday at Beaver Stadium against Marshall. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

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