Penn State 'LBU' Great Returns on Matt Campbell's Coaching Staff

Dan Connor, who coached linebackers for the Nittany Lions in 2025, is back on the defensive staff.

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

Matt Campbell has nearly completed his Penn State coaching staff, which will include a third Nittany Lions letterman. Campbell is retaining Dan Connor, a two-time All-American linebacker at Penn State who coached the team's linebackers last season.

Connor will serve as assistant linebackers coach to Tyson Veidt, who joins Campbell's coaching staff after spending the past two seasons as Cincinnati's defensive coordinator. Veidt is the latest addition to a Penn State staff that still is without a publicly named running backs coach.

Connor enters his fifth season on Penn State's staff after joining in 2022 as a defensive analyst. He was the defensive coordinator at Widener before Franklin hired him. Connor played six NFL seasons after graduating as Penn State's all-time leading tackler (419). He won the Bednarik Award as the nation's best defensive player in 2007.

Connor will work for new Penn State defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn, a fellow letterman who was a three-time All-Big Ten cornerback for the Nittany Lions. Lynn returns to Penn State after three seasons in Los Angeles, two as defensive coordinator at USC and one at UCLA.

Penn State linebacker Dan Connor (40) stands in his defensive stance as Notre Dame center Dan Wenger (51) prepares to block for quarterback Jimmy Clausen (7) in the fourth quarter at Beaver Stadium in 2007. | James Lang-Imagn Images

Here's an updated look at Penn State's 2026 coaching staff under Campbell.

• Assistant head coach Terry Smith: Penn State's 2025 interim head coach resumes his role as cornerbacks coach as well.

• Offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser: Spent two seasons as Campbell's OC at Iowa State, leading the Cyclones to one of their most productive seasons in history. In 2024, Iowa State averaged 31.1 points per game, fifth-best in school history, as part of its first 11-win season. Mouser also will coach tight ends.

• Defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn: Coached in the NFL for nine seasons before becoming Chip Kelly's DC at UCLA in 2023. Former Penn State coach James Franklin pursued Lynn last year before hiring Jim Knowles.

• Special teams coordinator Justin Lustig: A significant retention move for Campbell, who keeps the coordinator of the nation's most efficient special teams in 2025, according to the ESPN Football Power Index.

• Safeties coach/pass-game coordinator Deon Broomfield: Among the Iowa State imports, Broomfield spent five seasons as Campbell's safeties coach and the past three as pass-game coordinator as well. He will reunite with All-Big 12 safety Marcus Neal Jr., who is transferring to Penn State.

• Defensive line coach/run-game coordinator Ikaika Malloe: Worked with Lynn at UCLA in 2023 before replacing him as defensive coordinator the following season. Malloe was let go after former head coach DeShaun Foster was fired in September.

• Offensive line coach Ryan Clanton: A three-year staff veteran at Iowa State, Clanton guided a line that boosted the Cylcones' run game by more than 50 percent in yards per game from 2023-25.

• Wide receivers coach Noah Pauley: He's quite familiar with the four Iowa State transfer receivers, having coached them last season. Pauley was Football Scoop's 2024 national receivers coach of the year.

• Linebackers coach Tyson Veidt: After his two-year DC stint at Cincinnati, Veidt reunites with Campbell, with whom he worked for eight seasons at Iowa State. Veidt was Campbell's associate head coach and linebackers coach at Iowa State and Football Scoop's national linebackers coach of the year in 2017.

• Quarterbacks coach Jake Waters: After six years on Iowa State's staff, the last two as quarterbacks coach, Waters takes the same role at Penn State. He'll be joined by former Cyclones quarterbacks Rocco Becht and Alex Manske.

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