Penn State 'Fortunate' to Sign Linebacker Amare Campbell, Coach Says

The Nittany Lions signed Campbell, a starter at North Carolina, from the transfer portal. "He's a great fit for our scheme," linebackers coach Dan Connor says.

Former North Carolina linebacker Amare Campbell celebrates after recording a sack against Virginia Cavaliers during a 2024 game. / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

First, Penn State coach James Franklin said, he was disappointed to lose linebacker Ta'Mere Robinson to the transfer portal. The Penn State football staff expected Robinson, a promising young player who ultimately signed with USC, to grab a key role in the middle of the Nittany Lions' defense.

But once Robinson transferred, Penn State moved quickly in the portal. The Nittany Lions received a May commitment from Amare Campbell, who played two years at North Carolina before entering the transfer portal. Signing Campbell has proven to be a significant move for Penn State's defense.

"You've got to be grateful you can do that in the college football landscape now," Penn State linebackers coach Dan Connor said. "That used to be more of an NFL thing to get help like that."

Campbell (6-0, 230 pounds) made 76 tackles and 6.5 sacks for the Tar Heels as a sophomore last season. He also made 10.5 tackles for loss, broke up two passes and forced a fumble. Campbell initially entered the portal in December but remained at North Carolina for spring practice with head coach Bill Belichick. He re-entered the portal in late April, joining 50 former teammates, according to 247Sports.

Franklin received several influential recommendations regarding Campbell, including one from former North Carolina coach Mack Brown. Current Penn State linebacker Tony Rojas, who knew Campbell from their high school football days in Virginia, also served as a strong reference.

"Guys that we trust vouched for him, so all those things kind of helped and, so far, so good," Franklin said. "Sometimes it’s hard to evaluate a linebacker without pads on. It’s a little bit easier to evaluate a wide receiver or someone like that, so we’ll see. But based on first impressions, it’s been good.”

Connor's first impression of Campbell has been quite positive. The coach sees a player who brings needed skills and experience to a linebackers room where experience is shallow.

"He can make you miss — blockers miss, running backs miss — and that’s valuable in any system," Connor said. "But in this system in particular, to have those traits and a defensive coordinator as good as coach [Jim] Knowles who can basically put him on display, it’s a huge advantage for us. That’s what stood out to me. He’s a sideline-to-sideline guy, very slippery, very crafty, and highly productive. He’s a great fit for our scheme."

Franklin also detailed Campbell's production as being important to the program. Like former Syracuse receiver Trebor Pena, Campbell is not a project. He has played significant reps in power-conference football that illustrated his productivity.

“We’re investing in our roster, and we hate to lose guys," Franklin said. "But once that happens, you've got to move on and then you've got to find the next best option for Penn State. And again, you’re talking about production. We’re out of the business — we’ve tried a few times where you get a guy who was maybe highly regarded but hasn’t proven it yet at the college level. Kind of out of that business.

"I think at the end of the day, if you’re going to go into the transfer portal, you need to be going to transfer portal for production, not projection. High school is always going to be a little bit of projection, so we were able to see [Campbell's] production, watch the film, talk to the family, and then people that I trust pounded the table for him."

Connor backed Franklin's assessment.

"When you look at the linebacker room and lack of experience for the most part, and losing a guy to the portal, there’s holes," Connor said. "You want to develop young guys. We’ll able to give a lot of guys chances to develop and grow in the system. But it’s a long season, and you need a guy who can come in here and compete for a starting job and have big role for us. So we were fortunate to get that done."

Penn State opens the 2025 season Aug. 30 against Nevada at Beaver Stadium.

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