Penn State's new coach shifts practice to dawn, aiming for peak player freshness and competitive edge. Big Ten title dreams ignite with this ambitious morning regimen.
New Penn State head coach Matt Campbell has a big spring ahead of him.
Campbell is tasked with getting the 23 transfers he brought with him from Iowa State ready for Big Ten football. Those players will mix with a solid core of PSU athletes from last season.
With a favorable schedule, PSU is expected to be in the running to make an appearance in the Big Ten championship. From there, the College Football Playoff is possible.
Campbell's team at ISU was thought highly of because the head coach was able to get his players to compete against elite teams.
Campbell is bringing a method with him to Penn State that was successful at ISU. PSU is practicing early in the morning instead of in the afternoon, when most other programs have their practices.
Players get to the facility around 6:15 a.m., per onwardstate.com.
Offensive line coach Ryan Clanton thinks early morning practices help to keep players fresh.
“When you practice in the morning, you’re fresh, you’re ready to roll … When you have afternoon practice, you usually think about what you’re eating at lunch because you don’t want to throw it up later,” Clanton said.
Campbell will keep his practices short at Penn State, hoping his players stay fresh through the season.
“I came from a place before I got to Iowa State, where we practiced for hours, and we had really tough kids, but they would get tired towards the end of it. You were kind of sitting there going, ‘How much is enough?'” Clanton said.
“And then, really, Coach Campbell. We’re so big in developing players outside of football, obviously, but he does a great job from a recovery standpoint, sports science, really diving into what’s going to keep the guys on the field.”
Former head coach James Franklin held his practices in the afternoon.
The new transition doesn't seem to bother players who worked under Franklin. The 23 transfers from Iowa State are already familiar with early practices.
It'll be interesting to see if Penn State players stay in better shape throughout the course of the season in 2026 than they did in previous years.