Why Penn State's Matt Campbell Made Michael Mauti a Priority Hire This Offseason

To conclude spring practice, the new Penn State football team filled a State College theater for a private screening of the documentary "Saving Tthe Roar" about the 2012 Nittany Lions. Head coach Matt Campbell wanted the players, transfers and returnees, to understand the history of one of Penn State's most pivotal football seasons.

"To hear the authenticity of that movie and understand and feel it and then know that you've got Jordan Hill and Mike Mauti in this building 24/7 around our kids and the impact that those guys have on a daily basis on this program, I think it was really powerful," Campbell said.

Hill and Mauti, who were essential to Penn State even fielding a team in 2012, continue their work for the program 14 years later. Hill recently became director of the Penn State Letterman's Club after serving as the program's director of life skills since 2024.

And Mauti, who previosuly served in a development role with the Nittany Lion Club, is the new director of engagement for Penn State football. Campbell said that he initially had other plans for Mauti, the Big Ten linebacker of the year and a first-team All-American in 2012, which unfortunately fell through.

"First, I wanted to see if he could have any eligibility with this new rule that came out," Campbell joked, referring to NCAA legislation allowing athletes to compete for five years. "I thought maybe we could get him for one more year."

Mauti helped spearhead Penn State's roster rally in 2012, after the NCAA announced a sweeping set of sanctions on the program and essentially opened a transfer portal specifically for the team.

In a famous video posted on YouTube in July 2012, Mauti said, "This program was not built by one man and this program sure as hell is not going to get torn down by one man," referring to former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

"To have Mike with us every day means a great deal," Campbell said, "even just to pick his brain as a football player, to have him around our players. Especially when our players watch that film, understood what he and Jordan Hill, what those guys stood for, I think it was a monumental growth moment for our football team to really understand what it means to play here and have those guys around us every day. It means a whole lot."

Penn State Nittany Lions linebacker Michael Mauti during a 2012 game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Beaver Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Following a five-year NFL career with the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints, Mauti reconnected with Penn State in 2022 by helping to found Lions Legacy Club, a football-focused NIL collective. Lions Legacy Club merged with Success With Honor in 2023 to form Happy Valley United, the athletic department's official NIL collective.

After getting to know Mauti, Campbell wanted to bring him into a role with the football program. Campbell said that Athletic Director Pat Kraft "did a great job of allowing us to take his role from an athletic department focus and really bring him into the football facility for engagement, the ability to just continue to navigate ourselves forward."

"Mike has been awesome," Campbell said. "Obviously he's been working on campus. I got to meet him early on during our time here and was honestly just struck by his passion for Penn State as a university and Penn State as a football program is about. That was even before we got down the rabbit hole of the 2012 team."

Added offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser, "Our guys need to understand how great of a teammate that guy is, how much he meant to his coaches and how much he didn't want to let everyone else around him down. It was never about him, and that's what I love about Mauti."

Campbell has said he wants to help "unify" the Penn State football program in part by bringing back its lettermen. More than 450 visited Penn State during the spring to watch practice, connect with the new players and reconnect with each other.

"I couldn't be more grateful for our former players and what they've done to make a concerted effort to be back around our program," Campbell said. "And my true belief is, we've just hit the tip of the iceberg. They are the superpower of Penn State. They are the superpower of our future, and we're going to continue to do everything in our power to continue to foster that relationship and unify and align ourselves around the history of our program."

Penn State Nittany Lions football coach Matt Campbell answers a question during football media day in Holuba Hall. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

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