Penn State ends 54-day search with hire of $40 million college football coach

Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft gives two thumbs up | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK

Ding dong! The wicked Penn State football head coaching search is dead at last, or so it seems. The Nittany Lions fired James Franklin from the position a long 54 days ago in mid-October. Now, in the first week of December, all reports indicate that Penn State has found their new leader.

According to both On3's Pete Nakos and ESPN's Pete Thamel, two of the highly trusted college football insiders, Penn State is working towards a deal with longtime Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell. On3 tweeted out Friday afternoon that "Penn State is working to finalize a deal to hire Iowa State's Matt Campbell" according to their man Nakos.

Shortly after that report reached X, Pete Thamel posted his own report confirming that Campbell and Penn State had entered talks for him to assume the school's head football coaching job.

The sides met in Iowa on Thursday night and have been working toward an agreement since. Nothing is signed, and there’s still a few steps remaining for this to come to fruition.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 5, 2025

"Sources: Matt Campbell and Penn State are working toward a deal for him to become the next coach at Penn State," Thamel wrote Friday afternoon. "There’s multiple steps needed to finalize, including agreeing to terms and formal approval of compensation." He reiterates that no official documentation has been dotted.

"The sides met in Iowa on Thursday night and have been working toward an agreement since," said Thamel. "Nothing is signed, and there’s still a few steps remaining for this to come to fruition." Don't count those chickens yet, says the insider, but it's likely that Penn State's is teeing Campbell up as the program's next head coach.

Iowa State football head coach Matt Campbell | Lily Smith/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Iowa State inked Campbell to a major long-term deal this summer, just weeks before the season. Starting in 2025, Campbell was signed for eight years, through 2032, at a salary of $5 million per year before incentives. That comes out to a cool $40 million total over the deal, making him a very well-compensated Big 12 coach now that he's been around for 10 full seasons.

Penn State coaching search was a wild ride

Penn State's search ends, at last, following nearly two straight months of chaos. Athletic director Pat Kraft received a hoard of praise for pulling the trigger on James Franklin's firing following the two-loss start to Big Ten play that was wholly unacceptable. But since, Penn State certainly didn't execute a clean investigation for their next program leader.

Almost too many names to monitor came and went as either sourced candidates, rumored possibilities, or options on various betting markets. Either way, Penn State certainly missed on several top options, earning extensions for several.

In that department, Curt Cignetti and Matt Rhule stick out. Cignetti was an obvious first call but Indiana didn't even allow his name to escape Pat Kraft's mouth before he was set with a $93 million extension. Rhule also received a pay bump to stay at Nebraska as soon as Penn St. rumors kicked up. More recently, Penn State made a big push for Kalani Sitake, but BYU boosters and fans publicly rallied to tie down their Tongan war general in Provo.

Did Iowa State make the huge offer for Campbell to stay put? Are the Cyclones preparing a final last-ditch offer this minute to try and stall PSU negotiations? After 10 years, is Campbell simply ready to leave Ames, Iowa? We'll get answers to all of those questions soon. It sure seems like a Matt Campbell and Penn State union is about to happen.