A New Era Begins in Happy Valley
As news of Matt Campbell’s hiring broke Saturday morning, Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft suddenly looked a lot smarter than he had over most of the last two months. What had been perceived as bumbling now appears to be brilliance. Kraft landed one of the top football coaches in the country to lead a blue-blood program. Campbell might even end up being the guy who can take Penn State back to something close to the glory days of the first half of the Joe Paterno era, back when the Nittany Lions were regular contenders for national championships.
At this point, everything about Campbell suggests he can do just that. Like the guys who initially were mentioned as the top candidates for the Penn State job (Matt Rhule, Jon Sumrall and Bob Chesney), Campbell has a proven track record as a winner. At Iowa State and Toledo before that, Campbell won a lot of games.
Why Campbell Fits Penn State
And he did it with mostly three-star recruits and not a huge amount of financial support. Imagine what he can do with the kind of four-star recruits that Penn State gets and all the financial advantages (see maximum NIL money and huge television revenue) that a Big 10 program offers?
Campbell will face enormous expectations from alumni and fans. In Happy Valley, the standard is extremely high, and competing with Ohio State and Michigan is central to the program’s goals. An occasional national title is the expectation at a place like Penn State.
Immediate Challenges Ahead
Campbell won’t be expected to win national titles immediately, but eventually he will. He’ll first have some repair work to do as he steps into the role, and one of his first tasks will be to avoid a mass exodus through the transfer portal of the top talent that already is on campus.
He also will need a way to fix the recruiting damage done during the transition period and the two months in which Penn State and Kraft went through the hiring process. At one point, Penn State had commitments from 31 players in this year’s recruiting class. Some of them immediately reneged on their commitments when the coaching change occurred. Some of them later followed former staff members to Virginia Tech.
Others stepped out of their commitments as it looked like Kraft was struggling to finalize the hiring process. As things dragged on, there was a groundswell of support among alumni and fans for Kraft to promote interim coach Terry Smith, who had never been a head coach before he stepped in. That possibility undoubtedly scared off some recruits.
When the early signing period started Wednesday, most big-name programs across the nation were signing dozens of top recruits. That wasn’t the case at Penn State. The Nittany Lions got signatures from exactly two recruits.
Why the Recruiting Dip Won’t Last
But that situation is only temporary. The Penn State name carries a lot of recruiting weight in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. Campbell and the staff he puts together will hit the recruiting trail hard. After that, Campbell will get a chance to do what he does best next fall.
Campbell’s Proven Track Record
That’s coaching and winning games. Campbell won a lot of games at Iowa State, a place that almost forever seemed like an impossible spot to win. In the school’s 128-year existence, only eight seasons ended with eight or more wins. Campbell was responsible for five of those seasons.
Iowa State Under Matt Campbell: Season-by-Season
To illustrate just how dramatic his turnaround was at Iowa State—from a 3-9 debut in 2016 to consistent bowl eligibility and a program-record 11 wins in 2024—here’s a season-by-season breakdown:
Iowa State Season Results
| Year | Record (W-L) | Conference (W-L) | Bowl Outcome | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 3-9 | 2-7 | None | Rough start; losses to UNI (FCS) and Iowa sting. |
| 2017 | 8-5 | 5-4 | W Liberty (21-20 vs. Memphis) | First 8-win season since 2009; AP Top 25 return. |
| 2018 | 8-5 | 6-3 | L Alamo (31-38 vs. Washington St.) | Brock Purdy era begins; late surge from 1-3 start. |
| 2019 | 7-6 | 5-4 | L Camping World (33-9 vs. Notre Dame) | Tied for 3rd in Big 12. |
| 2020 | 9-3 | 8-1 | W Fiesta (34-17 vs. Oregon) | COVID year; first 9-win season ever. |
| 2021 | 7-6 | 5-4 | L Cheez-It (41-63 vs. Clemson) | Big 12 title game appearance. |
| 2022 | 4-8 | 2-7 | None | Injury-plagued dip. |
| 2023 | 7-6 | 6-3 | L Liberty (20-35 vs. Memphis) | Bounce-back; 6 Big 12 wins (program record at time). |
| 2024 | 11-3 | 7-2 | W Pop-Tarts (42-41 vs. Miami) | First 11-win season; Big 12 title game berth. |
| 2025 | 8-4 | 5-4 | TBD | Strong regular season before Campbell's departure. |
The Road Ahead at Penn State
In Happy Valley, Campbell will be expected to do even more than that. But, at least at the start of his Penn State tenure, there’s every reason to believe that Campbell can meet the expectations. He’s done it at Toledo and Iowa State without a lot of resources.
At Penn State, he’ll have every resource available to him. As he moves forward, his job will be to use those resources and win Big 10 championships and contend for national titles.
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