Penn State's Matt Campbell Already Looking for New Receivers Coach

On Wednesday, three Penn State football coaches spent their last night together living in an Airbnb before moving out to their own homes around State College. One of them was receivers coach Noah Pauley, who evidently spent his last night on the Penn State football staff as well.

Pauley, who spent less than two months on Matt Campbell's Penn State staff, reportedly is joining the Green Bay Packers coaching staff as receivers coach. CBS' Matt Zenitz first reported the news Thursday, less than 24 hours after Pauley met the media in State College to discuss his first season with the Nittany Lions.

The #Packers are hiring Penn State’s Noah Pauley as wide receivers coach, sources tell @CBSSports.

Rising star who interviewed for the 49ers OC job last year. Has developed future top three round draft picks like Jayden Higgins, Jaylin Noel and current Packer Christian Watson. pic.twitter.com/tHdMLIwZD6
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) February 5, 2026

Pauley is one of five assistant coaches, four on offense, Campbell brought with him from Iowa State. Pauley spent three years on Campbell's staff in Ames, the last two as the passing game coordinator as well as receivers coach.

The 2024 FootballScoop national receivers coach of the year, Pauley coached two 1,000-yard receivers that season in Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins, both now with the Houston Texans. He also coached Christian Watson, the Packers' 2022 third-round pick, and was set to mentor Chase Sowell and Brett Eskildsen, Iowa State's leading receivers last year, at Penn State this season.

Pauley interviewed last year with the San Francisco 49ers for their offensive coordinator position and has had other coaching opportunities. During a media availability Wednesday at Beaver Stadium, Pauley talked about why he joined Campbell and Penn State and the occasional chaos of the past two months.

Pauley, offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser and quarterbacks coach Jake Waters shared an Airbnb in State College, and Wednesday was supposed to be their last night together. Pauley, who played at Minnesota-Duluth, was responsible for shoveling the driveway.

"It's all about people, and these guys are some of my closest friends on the offense," Pauley said during the afternoon media availabiliy. "They're guys that we hang out with outside the building. It's not just work. We've got wives the same age, kids similar ages, so that stuff's important. And obviously coach Campbell is an unbelievable leader and person. He's as advertised, is what I always tell people. So it just makes sense [to have taken the job at Penn State]."

Pauley, who began his coaching career as a student assistant at Minnesota-Duluth in 2011, spoke eagerly about turning around a position room that has been a multi-year project at Penn State. Penn State signed five transfer receivers, four from Iowa State and one from Grambling, and retained three scholarship receivers from the 2025 roster. Notable on that list is Koby Howard, who will be on his third receivers coach in just over a year with the program.

"There have been challenges in the receiver room, and all I can speak of is what we're going to do moving forward," Pauley said Wednesday. "And I think we built a really good roster, a really good position group to do so with some veteran guys and some young guys we're really excited about. But we've got to build some confidence back in that room and around the building and around the community of what Penn State receivers are going to look like. But it starts like yesterday."

"When guys come in, they felt our energy and how we are around them," Pauley added. "We're a pretty loose group, as I'm sure you guys have seen. We like to have fun, but we know we're in the office and we're on the field like it's business. We know how to, how to flip the switch on, off, and a lot of us, that's how we were coached when were going through the process as well. "

Iowa State Cyclones wide receivers coach Noah Pauley talks to the media in Ames, Iowa, in 2024. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK

Pauley's departure once again shakes up a Penn State positon group that most needed to find balance. Campbell on Wednesday sounded positive about the direction of the wide receivers, which he called one of his program's offensive strengths at Iowa State.

"I think that's an area we feel really confident in because man, for the last 10 years, that receiver room at Iowa State, that's been our staple," Campbell said. "And I know we're coming to a place where we've kind of got to reshape that a little bit and bring that back to life."

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

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