Head coach Matt Campbell's coaching career is coming full circle as he takes over the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Months ago, when Matt Campbell was named the next head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions, it was a full-circle moment for him.
In his introductory press conference, he referenced that when he was a young 16-year-old getting recruited to play college football, he watched Penn State's Kyle Brady and said, "I want to be like that guy."
Well, in the natural twists and turns of life, Campbell may not have gotten to play like Brady, but he is getting to coach the team that he watched while he was growing up.
On Thursday this week, Brady re-watched the clip of him saying that during the press conference and provided his thoughts on what that meant to him.
Brady was a stellar player in a completely different era of college football. He spent four years at Penn State, and throughout his career, he hauled in 76 catches for 980 yards and nine touchdowns. He became the ninth overall pick by the New York Jets in the 1995 NFL Draft.
In the NFL, Brady played for the Jets, Jaguars, and had one year in New England. Over 13 years, he had 343 catches for 3519 yards and 25 touchdowns. He was solid at both the college and pro level, and is certainly a player and person to model your game after.
One of the most impactful things that Campbell is doing as the head coach of this program is that he is connecting the past to the future.
He has done a really good job of getting the alumni completely bought in by calling them all, inviting them to practice, and making them a focal point of the program so that his players know what they are representing, and the alumni base feels like they are still a part of the program.
Campbell is putting on a masterclass at this early stage in his tenure.
Stuff like that means something to these guys who have come and gone through the program. The days when it meant something to stay somewhere for four years and actually call a place home are sadly fading away. Any connection back to those days is a very good thing.
Campbell is doing his best to connect those dots and make that a reality in his version of the Penn State program. It just so happens that he is completely a full circle life experience a long the way.
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