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max olson
penn state Name iowa state The school announced on Friday the hiring of coach Matt Campbell as the school’s head football coach.
The deal, which will go before the school’s board of trustees’ compensation committee for final approval on Monday, is for eight years, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
“Coach Campbell is, without a doubt, the right leader at the right time for Penn State football,” Patrick Craft, the school’s vice president for intercollegiate athletics, said in a statement. “He is a tremendous coach with a proven track record of success and his values, character and approach to leading student-athletes to success on and off the field align perfectly with Penn State’s traditions and values.”
Campbell, the winningest coach in Iowa State history, met with Penn State officials Thursday night before negotiating a deal on Friday. Iowa State moved quickly to hire Washington State The school announced that Campbell would be replaced by coach Jimmy Rogers.
Looking to replace longtime coach James Franklin, who was fired on October 12Penn State then turned its attention to Campbell BYU Coach Kalani Sitake agreed to a long-term extension Tuesday to remain with the Cougars.
Campbell, a three-time Big 12 Coach of the Year, led the Cyclones for 10 seasons and achieved eight winning seasons, two Big 12 Championship Game appearances and one Fiesta Bowl victory. oregon The school’s first top-10 finish in 2020.
Campbell, 46, went 72-55 during his decade at Iowa State, becoming its winningest coach last season, and went 35-15 as coach toledo From 2011 to 2015.
He will bring strong Midwest ties to the job as a native of Massillon, Ohio, who began his college playing career at Pitt before winning three national championships as a player at Division III Mount Union.
This season, Iowa State started 5–0 and rose to No. 14 in the AP Poll, before a four-game losing streak eliminated the team from Big 12 title contention. The Cyclones went on a three-game winning streak in November and went 8–4.
Last year, Iowa State went 11-3 in 2024 and advanced to the College Football Playoff with a win over Arizona State in the Big 12 title game.
The program was ranked 15th in the AP Poll after defeating Miami in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
Campbell and his coaching staff have developed 15 NFL draft picks over the past seven years, including NFL stars brock purdy, Breece Hall And david montgomeryand defensive end Will McDonald IV Became the first Cyclones to be selected in the first round since 1973.
Prior to Campbell’s arrival, Iowa State had not had a winning season since 2009 and had not played in the Big 12 Championship Game. During his tenure the Cyclones won 14 games against AP Top 25 opponents.
Campbell has been a serious candidate for high-profile coaching jobs throughout his decade, including at Iowa State detroit lions and USC, but chose to stay in Ames and continue building a program that had never achieved a 10-win season until last year.
Campbell was making $5 million a year in total compensation at Iowa State after agreeing to a contract extension through 2032 with the school earlier this year.
Penn State was ranked No. 2 in the preseason AP Top 25 and was expected to compete for a national championship in 2025 after reaching the College Football Playoff semifinals last season. Franklin was fired to start Big Ten play during a three-game losing streak that dropped the Nittany Lions out of the top 25 at 3–3.
franklin Five-year deal agreed to become a coach in Virginia Tech On November 17 and reached an agreement with Penn State on a $49 million buyout, $9 million was originally owed upon his dismissal.
Confirming a report from Inside the Lions, sources told Thamel that former Penn State interim coach Terry Smith agreed to a four-year deal to remain on the staff at the school and work with Campbell. Smith is a Penn State graduate who has been a key role on the school’s staff for the past 12 seasons. Under Smith’s leadership the school won its final three Big Ten games this year and went 6–6, becoming bowl-eligible.
