Penn State hired a new head coach after missing the College Football Playoff in 2025. PSU received a warning about new head coach Matt Campbell's tenure.
New Penn State head coach Matt Campbell has his work cut out for him in his first season at State College.
The former Iowa State head coach inherited a mess on the recruiting trail this season, as many of Penn State's commits flipped to other schools, including Virginia Tech, led by James Franklin.
Per 247Sports, Virginia Tech has the No. 28 recruiting class for 2026. Penn State is ranked No. 69, with only three four-star commits and 11 three-star recruits set to join.
Campbell was able to boost the roster for next season via the transfer portal. The Nittany Lions rank No. 6 in the transfer portal, but only 44th overall for recruiting.
Max Chadwick of Pro Football Focus sounded an alarm for PSU this offseason. He ranked the Nittany Lions at No. 24, arguing that Campbell will have to rebuild the program.
It took a while to get PSU back to where they were in 2024, competing in the College Football Playoff semifinal.
"Penn State had national championship hopes in 2025, but came crashing back down to Earth with just a 7-6 record," Chadwick wrote. "The Nittany Lions moved on from head coach James Franklin after 12 years on the job and hired Matt Campbell away from Iowa State.
"He was busy in the transfer portal, bringing in 36 players with 23 coming from the Cyclones. It may take some time to rebuild the program, but Campbell has proven to be capable of turning programs around before."
Campbell had success with the Cyclones, a program that was perennially at the bottom of the Big 12 before he arrived in Ames.
He went 72–55 overall and 50–40 in Big 12 play at Iowa State.
Still, Campbell will need some time to resurrect PSU after losing numerous athletes in the offseason. Many of Campbell's transfers to Penn State came from an Iowa State team that finished 8-4 overall and 5-4 in Big 12 play in 2025.
On Friday, Campbell told the crowd at a PSU wrestling match that he wants to make the Nittany Lions proud in the upcoming season.
“It’s an absolute honor to be here with the greatest fans in the entire country, getting to watch the greatest wrestling program in the entire country,” Campbell said, via PennLive.
“To be honest with you, we can’t wait to make each and every one of you so proud of this football program this fall.”
Penn State can still have a season to be proud of, but that crowd might have to exercise some patience in 2026.