How Matt Campbell rebuilt the foundation for Penn State football
This is not the first time Matt Campbell has had to change head coaching jobs. He’s gone from assistant coach to head coach at Toledo before taking the head job at Iowa State. But each of those situations required different lessons for him to learn, and his move from Iowa State to Penn State has done the same.
“I think the uniqueness has been just the landscape we’re in is so completely different, and that’s not a positive or a negative — it’s just different,” Campbell said Wednesday at his signing day press conference. “Obviously when you took over the last two programs you didn’t have a transfer portal. ... How do you build a current team to move forward? How do you build a foundation?
“Again, there’s probably some areas that you wish you didn’t have to deal with, and then there’s probably some other areas you’re really grateful that you had the ability to deal the way we were able to deal with to build the best team we possibly could to move ourselves forward, and this team has got to be a great foundation for the vision forward of Penn State football.”
The new Penn State head coach spent the better part of the last seven-plus weeks, essentially, building a program from the ground up. He came to Penn State with no coaching staff and with a roster that was expected to — and did — see a massive overhaul, and a short amount of time to build both.
But that is helped, at least a little bit, by having a foundation to bring in from Iowa State as he did. He had a few assistants come right away, and a large group of players from the Cyclones that hopped on board within a few days of the transfer portal opening.
That group was led by quarterback Rocco Becht, who will be tasked with leading the first Penn State team of the Matt Campbell era. That’s a lot of weight to carry for any college player, but it helps that he and his head coach are in lockstep.
“I think the one thing about Rocco is — I’ve always felt this about the quarterback position — I feel that the quarterback and the head football coach have to be tied at the hip,” Campbell said. “I feel like they have to be tied at the hip because their leadership is so critical to the entirety of the football program.”
Building an offensive staff
Two of the coaches that came right away, offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Taylor Mouser and offensive line coach Ryan Clanton, helped build that foundation, and proved to be indicators of what the offensive staff would look like in Campbell’s first year.
Mouser, who was the offensive coordinator at Iowa State, has been with Campbell for his entire coaching career, and is someone the head coach trusts to run the type of offense necessary at a program like Penn State.
“I think Taylor has proven over his two-year period to be one of the up-and-coming bright minds in all of college football,” Campbell said. “I think he’s got a fearlessness as a play caller.”
But it’s not just the on-field product that impressed the head coach in Mouser’s two years as the Cyclones’ — it was how he handled himself as the leader of the offense off the field.
“When you put the coordinator title to any of these coaches, I think you’re expecting a gentleman and somebody that’s got unbelievable leadership ability and the ability to align and unify a group, and Taylor has done a great job of that,” Campbell said.
Hiring D’Anton Lynn
Penn State’s defensive coordinator search was much less direct. Campbell’s DC at Iowa State, Jon Heacock, informed he was retiring from coaching before the Penn State job was a realistic possibility for Campbell. And despite Campbell making a call after he was introduced as PSU’s head coach, Heacock decided to stick with that decision, leaving the job open for a new face.
And that’s where Lynn came into play. The former Penn State defensive back was a target during last offseason’s defensive coordinator search, according to multiple sources, before Jim Knowles ultimately took the job.
Lynn became a target for Campbell after he was one of the first names those around him mentioned for the job.
“Honestly, the first name that came up was Coach Lynn,” Campbell said. “Obviously from talking to some people that I have great respect for to even in-house of some of our own coaches that had come with me, just felt like that was the No. 1 target for the style of defense we wanted to play, for somebody that understood Penn State football, that wanted to be here, that wanted to be a part of this program, that had a passion for Penn State. I felt like that was critical.”
But the road to hiring Lynn was not easy. The defensive coordinator had a prohibitive buyout, which prevented him from making the move at first, according to a source. But ultimately, concessions were made and Campbell was able to close the deal on the hire.
And the fact that Lynn made the concessions he did only made the Penn State head coach more excited to work with him moving forward.
Quick hitters
- Campbell said the Blue-White Game will take place in some form or fashion, with details to be announced at some point in the near future.
- The new head coach said returning staff members — and former Penn State greats — Dan Connor and Trace McSorley were “huge wins” when it comes to coaching retention.
