Matt Campbell and the Penn State Nittany Lions are putting together a very strong 2027 recruiting class
One of Matt Campbell's biggest challenges when he took over the Penn State job was reestablishing the foundation of the program.
When James Franklin was fired last season, along with him went a lot of the foundational pieces to the program and nearly the entire recruiting class. The Nittany Lions did Campbell no favors by hiring him so late that he was unable to salvage the 2026 class, so he turned his attention to 2027, and he is crushing it.
So far, the Nittany Lions have five commits already in, and they have four four-star players on the edge to commit to the program.
Campbell got things going by getting three three-star defensive backs to commit to the program to get them off the ground. Then, he supplemented them with four-star defensive lineman Carter Blattner and four-star wide receiver Landon Bloom.
Both new players stand at 6'4" and bring some real size to the program at both position groups.
Next up for the Nittany Lions is four more four-stars, who Penn State reportedly has a "very strong" chance to land the following guys:
- QB Peter Borque
- WR Khalil Taylor
- RB Aiden Gibson
- TE Cooper Terwilliger
If the Nittany Lions land these four players, their recruiting class will jump from the 27th-ranked class all the way into the top-10 class in the entire country. Compared to the past, James Franklin was known for his ability to recruit, and his two best classes were ranked No. 6 in the country.
Campbell is going to be within arm's length of that in just the first couple of months that he has had the job.
Now, in today's day and age, recruiting doesn't stop after the player commits. Once the season rolls around, Penn State had better win some ball games. If they get off to a slow start and put up a bad year, they will absolutely lose the commitments of some of these players.
The reverse is also true. If they come out and win, they will flip some big-time recruits and continue to add to the already impressive class.
Winning is the ultimate antidote. Campbell has done the hard part to reestablish the culture in Happy Valley, and if he turns the team into a winner, it will only get better for him and his new team.
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