New Penn State head coach Matt Campbell was introduced on Monday afternoon, and it became obvious why he earned the job.
Only after a few dozen of those will we truly know if athletic director Pat Kraft made a home-run hire.Standing inside the Beaver Stadium media room, steps away from the field he’ll coach on and the tunnel he’ll run out of for years to come, Campbell introduced himself as Penn State’s next head coach.
. And it was then that it became obvious why he was the end result of a long and winding search. “Matt Campbell is Penn State,” Kraft said in his opening statement. “Hard-nosed, humble, relentless, a developer of young men. And he’s built for championships. He embraces our expectations not as pressure, but as a privilege. ... deserve a team that plays with fire, passion, and purpose. And Matt Campbell delivers that.” When Campbell took to the podium, you could feel that passion and purpose. You could hear the conviction in his voice, and you could feel his energy emanate throughout a jam-packed room full of reporters.New Penn State head football coach Matt Campbell is introduced during a press conference at Beaver Stadium. Dec. 8, 2025. Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.comOf course, Campbell used his words to articulate all of that. And as one does in an introductory press conference, he played the hits. In his 15-minute opening statement, Campbell mentioned Joe Paterno and the conversations his grandparents used to have about Penn State’s “toughness and character.” He offered the “utmost respect” toand Bill O’Brien. He name-dropped notable lettermen, from Todd Blackledge and Jack Ham to Kyle Brady and Kerry Collins. He said he got “goosebumps” on Sunday staring at the wall of lettermen inside the Lasch Building.But Campbell was honest when pressed further about his Penn State roots. He never had the opportunity to meet Paterno. He said, “I haven’t,” when asked if he got to know Franklin and O’Brien at coaching conventions over the years. He never went to Penn State games as a kid. That didn’t matter. What mattered was his appreciation for the school, the tradition and the opportunity ahead of him. What mattered was how he got to Penn State and how he handled himself on Monday. And really, what struck me most was how Campbell talked about his former players — about the place he left behind. Campbell was at Iowa State for 10 years. Hired as a 32-year-old coach from Toledo, he was given the keys to a football program with no real history to speak of and turned it into a winner. The three-time Big 12 Coach of the Year compiled a 72-55 record with the Cyclones, wrapping his tenure with the best winning percentage of any coach in Iowa State history since 1919. Campbell, one of the most well-respected coaches in the sport, had chances to leave Ames. He garnered offers from college powerhouses and the NFL over the years. But he always stayed. He always found himself coming back to the Cyclones and the program he built. That’s why, with a quivering voice and tears in his eyes, he described his final meeting with Iowa State’s players on Friday night as “one of the hardest moments of my life.” “I never wanted to be that coach who jumps from job to job,” Campbell said. “If we were ever going to leave Iowa State, I was going to go somewhere I wanted to finish my career, and I wanted it to stand for something that’s bigger than Matt Campbell. ... And I found that.” New Penn State head football coach Matt Campbell gets emotional as he is introduced during a press conference at Beaver Stadium. Dec. 8, 2025. Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.comCampbell found what he wanted. And Penn State found what it needed. The Nittany Lions needed a coach, first and foremost. The 54-day journey from Oct. 13, the day Franklin was fired, to Friday, the night Campbell was announced, was bumpy. At times, Penn State’s coaching search was even deemed shambolic. It was only this time last week that it looked like BYU’s Kalani Sitake would be Penn State’s coach. Kraft was confident in that, with a deal in place to pry the Cougs’ coach away from Provo. When Sitake stayed, Penn State was publicly embarrassed. Kraft was criticized. Fans were in panic mode. The perception around Penn State was poor. Meanwhile, players who endured a disaster season were pushing for interim coach Terry Smith to get the job. And all of that happened before expletive-laden audio of a meeting Kraft had with the players was leaked. Kraft said the Penn State community has been “tested” in recent weeks. He forgot to mention “frustrated, angry and nervous.” But to his credit, Kraft never said Campbell was the first choice, like so many other ADs would have. And he never said the process was clean. “Honestly, it could probably be a Netflix documentary at some point,” Kraft added. “The way that Matt and I got to each other involved some twists and turns along the road.” But in the end, that didn’t matter to Kraft. It didn’t matter to Campbell. And it’s not going to matter to the fans if Kraft and Campbell succeed in building a winner. Those foundations will be laid in the coming days, weeks and months. Between staff decisions, roster retention, high school and transfer portal recruiting, Campbell has a lot to do before he coaches his first game on Sept. 5, 2026, when Penn State hosts Marshall. But Campbell secured his first win as a Nittany Lion on Monday in the Beaver Stadium media room. And Kraft earned a much-needed victory by getting him there.Johnny McGonigal Johnny covers the Philadelphia Eagles and Penn State football for PennLive. He has covered college football and Penn State professionally since 2016, with stops at the Centre Daily Times and Pittsburgh...
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