On Day 54, the Penn State coaching search has finally come to an end, and Matt Campbell is officially the guy.
Fans went to bed Wednesday night hoping Campbell would be the coach.
By early Friday afternoon, they were expecting it, and by 7:30, it had finally happened, with Jon Sauber of the Centre Daily Times breaking the news.
The 46-year-old who led Iowa State to its most successful period ever is now the 17th man to take the reins in Happy Valley. Campbell has been a college head coach for 14 seasons, with the last 10 being in Ames. Before that, he was the boss at Toledo from 2012 to 2015
During Campbell’s 10 seasons at Iowa State, he compiled a record of 72-55 and guided the Cyclones to two Big XII division championships in 2020 and 2024.
Campbell is responsible for five of the ten winningest seasons in Iowa State history, highlighted by a program-record 11 wins in 2024, and guiding the Cyclones to major bowl wins in the Fiesta Bowl (2020) and Pop Tarts Bowl (2024).
Considered by many to be a coach who had done more with less at Iowa State, he is a three-time recipient of the Big XII Coach of the Year award.
Before Iowa State, Campbell got his start coaching as a graduate assistant at Bowling Green between 2003 and 2004.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Campbell returned to his alma mater and coordinated Larry Kehres’ offense at Mount Union, guiding them to back-to-back Division III national championships with an offense that averaged 42.3 points per game.
After a two-year stint coaching Bowling Green’s offensive line, Campbell joined Tim Beckman at Toledo as a running game coordinator and offensive line coach.
Later, Campbell coordinated the 2011 Toledo offense that was the No. 8 scoring offense in the country at 42.2 points per game.
Campbell succeeded Beckman after his departure to Illinois, where he was the Rockets’ head coach from 2012 to 2015, compiling a 35-15 record.
Overall, Campbell has a 107-70 record.
Stay with Nittany Sports Now’s continuing coverage of Penn State hiring Matt Campbell.
