Penn State's Campbell Has Dealt with Montlake Before

In search of a replacement for the fired Jimmy Lake, Iowa State's Matt Campbell was the name bandied about the most during a frenetic two-week process in late 2021 to put someone in place as the next University of Washington football coach.

Nearly every day, Campbell was identified as the top candidate until he wasn't and the hiring process quickly shifted to Kalen DeBoer of Fresno State who took the job.

Campbell, who will bring Penn State to Husky Stadium on Saturday afternoon as a first-year coach with the Nittany Lions (4-4 overall, 1-4 Big Ten), supposedly was the leading candidate in Montlake, but he priced himself out of consideration.

"He goes and tells the U he wants to start out at $5 million or $6 million," said a Husky athletic donor privy to the negotiations who prefers to remain unidentified. "The U tells him thanks, but no thanks. He wanted a lot of money. He had a pretty high opinion of himself. We watched him X himself out of it."

Penn State head coach Matt Campbell reacts to a replay on the video board during the second quarter against Purdue. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

DeBoer ultimately agreed to $3.1 million and $4.2 million to coach the UW for two seasons before he leveraged his success into the Alabama coaching job that handsomely compensates him $12.5 million per season and, with an extension, will provide him with $87.5 million over the next seven years through 2033.

He put the Husky program back together after Lake was cut loose nine games into the 2021 season for shoving a player on the sideline in a nationally televised game against Oregon -- and probably for not beating the Ducks that day, as well.

Nittany Lions head coach Matt Campbell looks on in the second half against Michigan in their game in Ann Arbor. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

DeBoer, of course was replaced by Jedd Fisch, formerly of Arizona and the current Husky coach now making $7.75 million a year in his third season.

This past year, Campbell finally left Iowa State and got what he was looking for financially. He doubled his coaching payout from $5 million annually with the Cyclones to a reported $10 million per season with the Nittany Lions spread out over a decade.

How he would have fared had he come to the UW remains uncertain. He might not have been as successful as DeBoer after the Huskies made the jump from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten.

After all, Campbell already has heard grumbling in State College over the Nittany Lions' break-even record (4-4 overall, 1-4 Big Ten) for the perennial top-10 program.

With a composite 72-55 win-loss ledger and eight bowl appearances at Iowa State, the coach's credentials suggest otherwise. He might have done what DeBoer did, which is win big early on and use the UW as a stepping stone to another job.

Campbell could have bolted from Seattle for Penn State after last season and made Saturday's game really awkward.

Add us as a preferred source on Google