It has been a long and lengthy coaching search, but as of Friday, December 5th, it appears as though the Penn State Nittany Lions have finally found their next head coach.
“Penn State is in the final stages of negotiations to make Matt Campbell its new coach, sources tell @YahooSports,” insider Ross Dellegner posted on X. “The Penn State search – spanning more than 50 days – may land on the Iowa State and former Toledo coach who’s heralded as one of the best leaders in the country.”
It has been 54 days since Penn State announced the university would be moving on from long-time head coach James Franklin.
The school watched several high-interest coaching prospects sign deals elsewhere, but in the end, it hired the 46-year-old multiple-time Big 12 Coach of the Year.
Matt Campbell’s Resumé
Campbell posts an all-time record of 107-70 as head coach.
His first stop came with the Toledo Rockets, where Campbell finished with nine or more wins in three of his four seasons. He brought the Rockets their first national ranking in over a decade, finishing the 2012 season as the 23rd-best team in the nation.
Two years later, Campbell’s Rockets cracked the top-20 with a 19th overall AP ranking.
His real resumé building took place at his next stop, Iowa State.
Campbell spent nearly a decade with the Cyclones, elevating the football program to national recognition. He finished with a record of 72-55 in Ames, Iowa, earning bowl eligibility in eight out of nine seasons.
Last season, Campbell’s Cyclones were one win away from joining Penn State in the College Football Playoff.
However, they were bested by Cam Skattebo and the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Big 12 Championship, ending a season in which Iowa State was ranked as high as 9.
Penn State Misses Out On National Signing Day
I believe this Campbell hire is a homerun; however, it may be just a few days too late.
Penn State made headlines earlier this week when they missed out on several high-quality prospects on national signing day.
The Nittany Lions only put pen to paper on two prospects, dropping their recruiting class ranking out of the top-150 schools in the nation.
However, in the age of the transfer portal, taking a good team’s head coach often leads to landing many of their top players as well.
Barkley Traux from On3 explained how Penn State could build its roster.
“If hired, Campbell will take over a Penn State team post-signing day that signed just two recruits this cycle,” Traux writes. “Campbell pieced together the No. 50 recruiting class in the country so far for 2026, and it wouldn’t be unheard of to see a handful of those players follow him to Happy Valley. Though, the NCAA transfer portal is an option to quickly bolster the talent on his roster early next month.”
Penn State ‘Working Toward Deal’ With Iowa State Head Coach Matt Campbell