Penn State's Matt Campbell Says the 'Storm' Is Coming; Are the Nittany Lions Ready?

The Nittany Lions coach makes confronting adversity a defining characteristic of his coaching strategy.

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Matt Campbell walks on the field during the Blue-White Spring Practice at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Immediately after Penn State concluded spring practice, Matt Campbell walked out of one storm and predicted another.

"The end piece of it is probably most important; like, the storm's coming," Campbell said following the Nittany Lions' final practice of spring. "We're going to have adversity. Are we as close-knit, tight-knit of a football team that, when the tough days come, we can fight through down 14, we can fight through adversity, a bad quarter, a bad half? All of that stuff's coming, right?"

As Penn State embarks on its post-spring hiatus before beginning summer workouts, Campbell left the team with a few key priorities. Getting, and staying healthy, was the chief among them, as was the coaching staff's evaluation period. The head coach spent the final week of classes and finals week squeezing in meetings with every player on the roster.

And one of his primary messages is this: Do you know how to handle adversity? It's a central construct of Campbell's coaching philosophy, one that he talks about freely both in and out of the program.

"We're going to go through some adversity in the spring," Campbell said in late March, when the Nittany Lions began spring drills. "It won't go great all the time. How do we work through it? Same thing in summer, same thing in fall camp. Until we get in the fire and we have real adversity and we have to go through some really hard things, then we'll see where our leadership is. I think we've at least taken some really good first steps."

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Matt Campbell looks on from behind the line of scrimmage during the Penn State Blue-White Spring game at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Campbell already has dealt with road blocks in just five months at Penn State. His receivers coach Noah Pauley left for Green Bay in February, prompting Campbell to hire anew, landing Kashif Moore from Colorado State.

Then about 30 Nittany Lions were sidelined to some degree during spring practice, making full-team evaluations more difficult. Many of those out or limited were rehabbing from 2025 injuries, like quarterback Rocco Becht, receivers Chase Sowell and Brett Eskildsen, linebacker Tony Rojas and safety Jeremiah Cooper.

But others injuries were new, such as those to tight end Andrew Rappleyea and defensive end Mason Robinson, who likely will be out long-term. Then Iowa State transfer quarterback Alex Manske missed spring practice as well, leaving Penn State's offense without its top two quarterbacks for live drills.

"The key to our success is, are we together enough to be able to fight through hard?" Campbell said. "I think those are great growth opportunities for us. We'll have to continue to pound through as we work through the rest of the summer and certainly fall camp."

This particular Penn State team has some practice with fighting "through hard." The 52 returning Nittany Lions watched former coach James Franklin get fired after a 3-3 start last season. Then the lost three more before winning their last four games. Meanwhile, the 24 Iowa State transfers were 5-0 and ranked 12th last season before losing four straight and falling out of the polls.

In December, Campbell marveled at what he called Penn State's resilience in winning three straight games to close the regular season. "The winning streak here at the end of this football season as so much adversity has hit them, it's been inspiring," Campbell said.

Yet despite the post-spring votes of confidence, Campbell still talks about adversity so openly. It's why Campbell instructs his players to prepare for the "storm."

"Change is inevitable. It happens," Campbell said. "Adversity happens. It's coming. It always is and always will. But greatness and how we respond to adversity is a choice. From this day forward we're going to wake up every single day in this football program and build championship habits.

"We're going to do it one day at a time and do it from the ground up. We're going to do it in a football program that's going to demand toughness, mental and physical. Discipline at every corner and demand most importantly togetherness. Selflessness and togetherness: One team, one program, unified to continue the great pride and the great tradition of Penn State football."

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Matt Campbell answers questions from the media following the Penn State Blue-White Spring game at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

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