On the 53rd day of the Penn State coaching search, it looks like things might be coming to an end, and that end would feature Iowa State coach Matt Campbell as the hire.
Lions247’s Tyler Donahue reported Thursday night that Penn State “appears to be working toward a hire” of Campbell.
Now, it looked like the 50th and 51st days of the search might be the last, when BYU’s Kalani Sitake was the main target.
But Sitake stayed at BYU, forcing AD Pat Kraft and company to go in a different direction.
Hours after Sitake turned Penn State down, national insider Josh Pate of On3Sports campaigned for Campbell.
“Penn State should have targeted Matt Campbell weeks ago,” Pate wrote, “and instead opted to chase unicorns.
What a disaster.”
Pate continued in a separate post.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.“Iowa State football has existed 134 years…Campbell has them in the midst of the best 3-year run in program history,” he wrote.
“His DNA blends perfectly with what PSU needs. How are you this blind?”
Insider Blasts Penn State, Says it ‘Opted to Chase Unicorns’ in Coaching Search
Indeed, Campbell has taken Iowa State football to new heights. Last season, the Cyclones went 11-3 for the most wins in program history. This year, the program finished the regular season 8-4.
Campbell has been at Iowa State for 10 seasons, and at just 46, one could argue he hasn’t even reached his coaching prime yet.
Something that could help Penn State close the deal that it couldn’t close with Sitake is that Iowa State’s financial situation doesn’t appear to be ideal. Cyclone NIL organizer and leader Brent Blum recently departed Iowa State’s WeWill Collective its athletic department.
When BYU people got wind that Sitake was close to leaving, they bonded together and helped him stay. Will the same happen with Campbell?
