Matt Campbell has one job: Rebuild Penn State’s national title hopes

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Following a 54-day national coaching search filled with reported hiring whiffs and leaked audio from a private meeting between the university’s athletic director and several players, Penn State on Monday introduced Matt Campbell as its 17th head football coach.

“It’s a dream come true for me,” Campbell said as he fought through tears. “It’s one of the greatest honors of my life, and I couldn’t be more grateful to be here.”

Campbell, 46, spent the last 10 seasons as head coach at Iowa State, where he won a program-record 72 games. The Massillon, Ohio, native signed an eight-year deal with Penn State that will pay him $8 million in 2026 and gradually rise to $9.25 million in 2033, the university announced Monday following approval from Penn State’s Board of Trustees.

Campbell is now tasked with winning the Nittany Lions’ first national championship since 1986, a challenge he embraces.

“From this day forward, we’re going to wake up every single day in this football program, and we’re going to build championship habits,” Campbell said. “We’re going to do it one day at a time, we’re going to do it from the ground up, and we’re going to do it in a football program that’s going to demand toughness, discipline, and most importantly, togetherness.”

Campbell’s contract is filled with incentives, including an automatic two-year extension and a $1 million bonus for winning a national championship, according to a copy of his contract released by the university. He would earn an additional $100,000 for winning Big Ten Coach of the Year and $350,000 for winning the Big Ten championship game, among other incentives.

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The university is reportedly committing significant resources to Campbell, who will have around $30 million in Name, Image, and Likeness funds, plus an additional $17 million staff pool, to build his roster and coaching staff, according to The Inside Zone.

Penn State allocated significant resources to former head coach James Franklin, who was fired Oct. 12 after a 3-3 start in what many considered a championship-or-bust season.

“Matt Campbell is Penn State: hard-nosed, humble, relentless,” athletic director Patrick Kraft said. “He’s built for championships. He embraces our expectations, not as pressure, but as a privilege. … Penn State football is once again a program that no one wants to see on their schedule.”

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Penn State’s national coaching search was bumpy.

Early reports noted the program’s interest in Indiana’s Curt Cignetti, Texas A&M’s Mike Elko, Nebraska’s Matt Rhule, and Georgia Tech’s Brent Key, who later signed contract extensions at their respective universities.

Penn State reportedly offered BYU’s Kalani Sitake a lucrative offer to become the school’s next coach, according to ESPN. But once Sitake accepted an extension at his alma mater, Kraft pivoted to Campbell, who had reportedly turned down several college and NFL coaching offers during his tenure at Iowa State before accepting a move to State College.

“If you’re ever going to leave, it better be about your family,” Campbell said. “If [my family] were ever to leave Iowa State, I wanted to go somewhere I wanted to finish my career, I wanted to stand for something that is bigger than Matt Campbell. And I found that [at Penn State].”

In a statement released Friday by Penn State Athletics, Kraft announced the university will retain Terry Smith, who served as the Nittany Lions’ interim head coach for the final six games this season. ESPN later reported a four-year contract extension for the 56-year-old.

Smith will serve as associate head coach, among other responsibilities, according to 247 Sports.

“Terry is Penn State. I made Terry the interim coach because I felt he was the one person in that building to unify the team,” Kraft said. “The [decision to retain Smith] was an absolute no-brainer … I think I’ve got the best football coach in the country [in Campbell], and I’ve got a partner for him who will fight for Penn State.”

Smith, who played wide receiver at Penn State from 1988-91, led the Nittany Lions to a 3-3 record. His players lobbied for him by holding up “Hire Terry Smith” signs after wins over Nebraska and Rutgers.

The longtime Nittany Lion garnered head coaching interest from Memphis and UConn, according to Jordan Shultz. But as Smith said at his introductory press conference, he bleeds blue and white.

Campbell lauded Penn State’s “impressive” turnaround under Smith’s leadership. He said one of the first questions he asked during initial conversations with Penn State was whether he could keep Smith on his staff.

“It was critically important for me to keep Terry. I know what he’s about and what he stands for,” Campbell said. “The fact that Terry wants to stay and wants to be a part of this, I couldn’t be more grateful. To work hand in hand with him, knowing what it means to play here, what it means to coach here, what it means to lead here, that’s huge for me and the rest of our staff.”