Matt Campbell is the Penn State football coach.
Not long after Jon Sauber of the Centre Daily Times broke the news that Penn State was hiring Campbell, Sauber also reported that Penn State was singing Campbell to an eight-year contract.
There are some key additional numbers.
The biggest number right now surrounding Campbell is 107. Those are the amount of games that Campbell has won over 14 seasons coaching at Toledo and Iowa State. Considering Campbell just turned 46, he’s moving at a solid pace.
But you’re here to read about financial numbers, so here’s what we know so far.
$10 MILLION
This is what Campbell’s annual salary will be, per Matt Fortuna of The Inside Zone. This would make Campbell among the 10 highest paid coaches in the country based on 2025’s USA Today numbers.
$30 MILLION
This is the amount of Name, Images and Likeness money Penn State has committed to Campbell, per Fortuna.
If this is an annual commitment— and Penn State uses every penny— the 2026 roster will be one of the most expensive in college football. AD Pat Kraft said in leaked audio that went viral early Friday morning that Texas Tech put around $40 million toward its roster, so this would put Penn State right in the ballpark.
Kraft also confirmed in that audio that the 2025 Penn State roster was one of the most expensive, so how much Penn State accomplishes with this money depends on what it spends it on.
$17 MILLION
This is the amount that Penn State has committed to its staff budget, pure Fortuna.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Kraft made it clear in his first statement after firing James Franklin that maximizing these numbers will be critical for the next era of Penn State football.
“Our next coach needs to be able to maximize elite-level resources, attack the transfer portal and develop at the highest level,” Kraft said in October.
In December, he hired Campbell.
“Coach Campbell is, without a doubt, the right leader at the right time for Penn State Football,”Kraft said in his first statement since hiring Campbell. “He is a stellar 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 the traditions and values of Penn State.
$2 MILLION
This was Campbell’s Iowa State buyout when he signed his most recent extension in August, per the Des Moines Register.
Considering Penn State was initially on the hook for $49 million after firing James Franklin and ended up only having to pay $9 million, only having to pay Campbell and Franklin a combined $11 million in buyout money is a pretty good result for Pat Kraft.
