What Penn State's Matt Campbell Prioritizes Strongly in Recruiting

Penn State shifts its recruiting strategy to a home game in June after more than a month on the road. Nittany Lions coach Matt Campbell will host his first series of official-visit weekends in June, as committed and uncommitted prospects make their way to Happy Valley, some for the first time.

Penn State enters June with the nation's sixth-ranked recruiting class, according to the 247Sports Composite, and still holds the top spot in the Big Ten. Most of Penn State's 20 committed prospects are scheduled to take official visits in June. So are some the program's key uncommitted prospects. And a few of those commits are scheduled to visit other programs a well.

So what kind of final pitch will they receive at Penn State? Campbell still positions himself as a program-builder who recruits fit rather than star rankings. He's disciplined with his message and budget, explaining to players how they fit the program instead of the opposite.

Campbell also will pitch development to the players and their families on the official visits. Penn State certainly is negotiating revenue-sharing and NIL terms with players and agents, but on the visits, Campbell wants to show them their futures.

"We have a process," Campbell said. "We know what we're looking for in the transfer portal and have to use that to continue to supplement our football team. But nobody will be better at developing our student-athletes and our high school football players better than us.

"We've proven that every step of the way. I think you can ask [former Iowa State players] Brock Purdy, Breece Hall, David Montgomery, Will McDonald. Thee flash, the stars, that's cool on Signing Day, but winning football games on Saturday is what we're going to be about.

"That's development. We're going to have to be better than anybody in college football. ... The financial aspect, I think is certainly unique. One of the great things that we have here is the sacrifice that [Athletic Director] Pat [Kraft] and his team have made to be competitive at the highest level to give yourself a chance to build the best team.

"Now, I think sometimes in college football we can get lost on the financial piece of it. Do I think it's important? Absolutely. But I think the reality is that cannot be priority No. 1."

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

Campbell has a recruiting ally in associate head coach Terry Smith, who made some recruiting road trips with Campbell during the winter evaluation period. Smith said that Campbell continues Penn State's long-time recruiting ethos.

"It's character-driven," Smith said of Campbell's recruiting strategy. "You know, it's something that Penn State's culture has been built on forever. Way back to Rip Engle and coach [Joe] Paterno, we're going to recruit a certain kind of kid that fits us. That's a kid that's academically inclined, wants to play football at a high level, but school still matters. We're still recruiting those type of kids, and just the fit is more important than the talent, and that's the same culture right now."

Campbell has another ally in General Manager Derek Hoodjer, who joined the head coach in State College from Iowa State. Hoodjer was instrumental in building Penn State's 2026 roster this offseason by blending his budget between retention and the portal.

However, Hoodjer said that Penn State will train its focus primarily on high school recruiting as part of its roster-building and development process.

"I think we always want to sign a large high school class," Hoodjer said. "That will always be our philosophy. And I think the root and the core nucleus of our program is always going to be high school recruiting and development along the way.

College football has gotten to the point now that like you kind of got to be prepared and ready to act on whatever happens. You don't know exactly who's going to be on your team a year from now. It's impossible to totally say, 'Hey, this guy is a sophomore. I know for sure he'll be here next year.' It's hard, so our belief system will always be to recruit a large high school class that we believe can be the foundation the future, develop those players and then fill out the team in the portal where necessary."

Penn State football general manager Derek Hoodjer speaks to reporters at Beaver Stadium. | Mark Wogenrich/Penn State On SI

Penn State gets three weekends in June to pitch recruits before the summer dead period begins. How will Campbell start? With this bottom-line pitch.

"I want young men that want to be here at Penn State and want to win championships at Penn State," Campbell said. "It has to start there."

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