Breaking News
PSU

Despite major turnover, Penn State coach Matt Campbell ready for success

Penn State football media day

By Andy Stine 4 min read

UNIVERSITY PARK -- Make no mistake about it. It is a different era of Penn State football as Matt Campbell's tenure kicked off this week with the beginning of fall camp.

Of the 112 players on the roster, there are 40 transfers, including 24 of them from Campbell's former place of employment at Iowa State.

But one thing that is becoming more clear by the day -- Campbell came here to win. Not next year or a couple years down the road.

Now.

"I don't know if I've ever not thought about doing everything in my power to win weekly, yearly, gamely, seasonally," Campbell said.

"We're equally trying to win in life, but the reality becomes, this is a competitive sport and we are doing everything in our power to win and be the best team we possibly can be each and every Saturday."

Campbell takes over after a time where the 2025 season snowballed to a 3-6 start with James Franklin being fired after an inexplicable loss to Northwestern at home. When Terry Smith took over as the interim coach, the team sputtered to three losses to very good teams in Iowa, Indiana and Ohio State. The Hoosiers eventually went on to win the national championship, and the Buckeyes were also in the College Football Playoffs.

The Lions won their last four, including a victory in the Pinstripe Bowl over Clemson that was Smith's final game as the acting head coach.

Smith was easily retained by Campbell and will now go back to his former place as associate head coach and the leader in the cornerbacks room.

So what does Smith like about this team in particular?

"This team loves each other. There's camaraderie in the locker room," Smith said. "There's a true sense of togetherness. With that camaraderie, we have a chance to be really good. They believe in each other. They're willing to fight for each other. Any time you have that, you have a chance."

Campbell has been a believer in bringing back lettermen to reunite with the program. Players from different decades have been around the program to come speak to the team. There are also a pair of coaches that are football alumni in Smith and new defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn. A few more are on the football support staff, including the recently hired Michael Mauti as director of football engagement.

A few months ago, Campbell had the players watch the documentary 'Saving the Roar,' a documentary on the importance of the 2012 team after dealing with the turmoil from the fallout of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

"All the things that have happened here, this program has been through a lot," Iowa State transfer safety Marcus Neal Jr. said. "The way people care about this program, the fans, you always want to give back to them. At the end of the day, the big games -- none of them happen without those people."

Speaking of big games, the schedule is pretty easy compared to Big Ten standards. PSU will not see Indiana, Ohio State, or Oregon in the regular season, but there will be tough matchups on the road at Michigan and at home against USC in what will be the assumed White Out game.

What will remain the same is how Campbell approaches leadership. He plans to let the players be the leaders.

"Every great team, whether I was playing or coaching I have been a part of, it's been player-led," Campbell said. "They demanded the standard and the expectation. My job as the coach is really to foster that leadership."

Starting at /week.