What Is Matt Campbell's Buyout at Penn State?

Campbell signed an eight-year contract with Penn State that includes provisions for liquidated damages if he leaves for another job.

Matt Campbell, left, Penn State University president Neeli Bendapudi, middle, and Penn State University athletic director Pat Kraft, right, pose for a photo after Campbell is announced as the Penn State Nittany Lions new head coach. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Matt Campbell has been Penn State's head football coach for three days (his contract began Dec. 8), and already people want to pull him elsewhere. Specifically to Michigan, which fired head coach Sherrone Moore on Wednesday.

Taylor Lewan, a former Michigan football player and host of the "Bussin' With the Boys" show, said on ESPN's "Get Up" that Michigan should at least place a call to Penn State's new coach.

"Matt Campbell is a guy I would look, how dry that ink is on that contract?" Lewan said Thursday morning. "Because if you look at Penn State, how they went across their whole coach search, they hit about seven, eight, nine, 10 people before they got to Matt Campbell. And if I'm Matt, and I feel some type of way about Penn State and their process, if I'm one of Michigan's top three calls, I'm listening to that call."

Which brings up the subject of Campbell's buyout at Penn State. Campbell signed an eight-year deal with Penn State worth a guaranteed $70.5 million. The term sheet that Penn State released includes an annual structure regarding buyouts, or liquidated damages, if Campbell were to leave for another job.

Specifically to Lewan's point, the term sheet requires a $10 million buyout in 2026 for liquidated damages if Campbell were to leave. That buyout drops to $8 million in 2027 and by $2 million per year until it reaches $1 million for the final three years of Campbell's contract.

Lewan wasn't alone in suggesting that Michigan pursue already contracted coaches. ESPN's Dan Orlovsky said on "Get Up" that the program should not worry about contract extensions that its potential targets may have signed recently.

"I don't care about extensions if I'm Michigan," Orlovsky said. "Clark Lea at Vanderbilt just signed an extension. Don't care, I'm making that call. Mike Elko at Texas A&M just signed an extension. Don't care, I'm making that call."

'Matt Campbell is Penn State'

Matt Campbell answers questions from the media after being announced as the Penn State Nittany Lions new head coach during a press conference at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Campbell certainly seems unlikely to consider the Michigan job after spending less than a week at Penn State. After all, it took him 10 years to leave Iowa State, something he spoke emotionally about during his introductory press conference.

"One of my favorite poems is 'The Man in the Glass,'" Campbell told a group of reporters after his press conference. "The end of the poem is so fitting on what life is. You have to look yourself in the mirror and you have to know if you did it the right way.

"It’s not about the win or the loss, but it’s who you became through the journey. Did you do it right? It’s like I told my wife: 'Every single step of the way we tried to do everything the right way by everybody involved.' It gives you closure that we did things the right way. This [Penn State] is the next great opportunity for us to see if we can continue to build something really special and do it the right way."

It's noteworthy, however, that Penn State Athletic Director Pat Kraft has been through a situation like this before. In December 2018, Kraft, then Temple's athletic director, hired Manny Diaz as the Owls' football coach. Less than three weeks later, Diaz left Temple for Miami.

In introducing Campbell, Kraft acknowledged that Penn State's 54-day search "tested" the community. However, Kraft said he found "the right person to lead the most storied program in all of sport."

"Penn State football today emerges tougher, clearer, and more driven than ever before, and we turn a page to a new era," Kraft said. "We are introducing a leader who embodies everything Penn State stands for: a builder, a fighter, a standard bearer of what this place can be at its very best; a coach whose teams compete with a chip on their shoulder and conviction in their hearts; a coach who's committed to shaping complete men, mind, body, character, and purpose, because he believes greatness is forged way beyond just the practice fields.

"He doesn't just coach players. He cultivates leaders, scholars, teammates, and future fathers who carry Penn State's values with them for the rest of their lives. Matt Campbell is one of the most respected coaches in the country and he has earned that. Matt Campbell is Penn State: hard-nosed, humble, relentless, a developer of young men, and he's built for championships."

Matt Campbell, left, shakes hands with Penn State University athletic director Pat Kraft, right, while being announced as the Penn State Nittany Lions new head coach during a press conference at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

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