Later this month, the “Super Bowl of High School Football” will kick off at Chapman Field at Cumberland Valley High School, where Pennsylvania and Maryland all-stars will meet in the annual Big 33 Classic.
The game’s reputation speaks for itself.
Joe Montana, Joe Namath, John Cappelletti, Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Orlando Pace, Marvin Harrison, Curtis Martin, Ricky Watters, Ben Roethlisberger, Damar Hamlin and Miles Sanders are among the many notable names who have participated in the event.
Big 33 alumni have also been represented in 57 consecutive Super Bowls, with more than 140 former participants appearing on Super Sunday.
For years, the game was also an important recruiting stage for Penn State. It gave James Franklin and his staff a chance to show up in style, build relationships and make strong impressions on some of the best players from Pennsylvania and Maryland.
For Matt Campbell, the Big 33 Classic should serve as more than just a showcase. It should be a reminder.
If Penn State is going to be successful at the level Campbell was hired to reach, Maryland has to be a major part of the recruiting plan.
How important has the Maryland pipeline been to Penn State’s success?
Start with some of Penn State’s most memorable teams of the 21st century.
Greenbelt native Derrick Williams was the spark plug for the 2005 team that helped restore Penn State to national relevance. Williams is still rated as Penn State’s top overall recruit in the 247Sports database, and his impact went beyond statistics. He gave the Nittany Lions speed, star power and instant credibility at a time when the program badly needed all three.
Penn State also cleaned up in the top 10 of Maryland’s 2006 recruiting class, landing six players from the state. That group included future impact players such as Aaron Maybin and A.J. Wallace, who helped fuel Penn State’s run to the 2008 Big Ten championship.
During Franklin’s tenure, two teams stand out most when examining Maryland’s importance: 2016 and 2024. On both rosters, Maryland had the second-most players of any state represented. That is not a coincidence. Penn State has often been at its best when it has recruited beyond Pennsylvania but still owned its extended regional footprint.
That footprint has to include Maryland.
Former Penn State offensive lineman Landon Tengwall, who was Rivals’ No. 4 player in Maryland for the Class of 2021 out of Good Counsel, sees the DMV, especially Maryland, as a non-negotiable area for Campbell’s staff.
“The DMV is one of the most underrated recruiting hotbeds in all of America,” Tengwall said. “If you go back and look at the Penn State rosters over the last 10 years, you will see that a large number of the stars/contributors on those teams came from the DMV. I think Matt Campbell must find a way to recruit well in the DMV region. Non-negotiable.”
That is the point. Maryland is not a luxury area for Penn State. It is a necessary one.
When identifying the key high school programs that fuel the pipeline, the conversation starts with four major schools: McDonogh School in Baltimore, St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville and Good Counsel in Olney.
From 2014 through 2026, those four programs accounted for nearly 50% of the top 10 players in Maryland’s Rivals state rankings, with 64 athletes appearing in that range. That is not just a trend. That is the foundation of the state’s high-end football talent.
Those schools routinely produce Power Four prospects. They play strong schedules. They send players to major college programs. They prepare recruits for the speed, physicality and expectations that come with college football.
That is why Maryland matters so much to Penn State.
The Nittany Lions are not simply recruiting upside there. They are recruiting players who have already been tested.
Maryland produces the kind of players Penn State needs to win nationally: edge rushers, defensive linemen, defensive backs, wide receivers and offensive linemen. Those are premium positions, and in the expanded Big Ten, premium positions matter more than ever.
If Campbell’s staff wants to build a roster that can hold up against Ohio State, Michigan, Oregon and the rest of the league, Penn State cannot rely only on Pennsylvania. That does not mean Pennsylvania becomes less important. It means Penn State has to dominate at home while also winning the right battles in nearby talent pockets.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Maryland gives Penn State access to a faster, deeper and more athletic player pool within driving distance of State College.
There is also a defensive identity piece. Penn State has long been at its best when it owns the Mid-Atlantic, especially with front-seven athletes and defensive backs. Maryland has consistently produced the type of long, explosive, versatile defenders who fit Penn State’s best teams.
That makes the state essential for Campbell.
The Nittany Lions are not operating in a vacuum. Oregon, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame and Maryland itself will all recruit the DMV aggressively. If Penn State loses too many battles there, it weakens its regional wall and gives national powers easier access to its backyard.
But if Penn State wins in Maryland, Campbell gains a critical bridge between Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia and Washington, D.C. That is exactly the kind of recruiting map Penn State needs if it wants to become a consistent playoff-level program.
The 2027 cycle already shows why Maryland will be a major proving ground.
Penn State’s push into the state started at the very top of the board, where Good Counsel EDGE Anthony Sweeney was the No. 1 player in Maryland and a national top-20 prospect in the Rivals Industry Ranking. Sweeney, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound edge rusher, was listed as the No. 18 player nationally, the No. 4 EDGE and the No. 1 player in the state.
He was the true prize of Maryland’s 2027 class.
Penn State stayed involved with Sweeney until the end, but he chose Texas Tech in April. Missing a player of that caliber is never ideal, but the bigger issue is whether Penn State can remain consistently competitive for those types of players moving forward.
The Nittany Lions also have notable interest in another premier defensive prospect: DeMatha Catholic EDGE James Pace.
Pace is the No. 3 player in Maryland, the No. 76 player nationally and the No. 11 EDGE in the country. He fits the mold of an athletic edge prospect from one of the region’s premier high school programs. Last season, Pace produced 81 tackles and 14 sacks, the type of production that makes him one of the most important remaining Maryland targets on Penn State’s board.
Penn State’s more realistic Maryland traction may come in the next tier, especially with DeMatha Catholic defensive lineman Sean Saint Fleur, Quince Orchard cornerback Rion Jackson and Good Counsel interior offensive lineman Jaiden Lindsay.
Saint Fleur gives Penn State another defensive line target from one of the DMV’s premier programs. Jackson offers intriguing secondary upside at cornerback. Lindsay, a 6-foot-3, 275-pound interior offensive lineman from Good Counsel, is another important name to monitor in the region.
That trio matters because Penn State has historically recruited well when it identifies physical, developmental prospects in Maryland and the broader DMV. Not every successful Maryland recruit has to be a five-star. The key is evaluating correctly, building relationships early and staying consistent.
That is where Campbell’s staff has to prove itself.
Franklin understood the value of Maryland. He understood that showing up mattered. He understood that Penn State could not afford to treat the state like an occasional luxury. It had to be part of the operation.
Now Campbell has to do the same.
For Penn State, Maryland is close enough to be regional, talented enough to be national and deep enough to produce impact players on both sides of the ball. It is not Florida, Georgia or Texas in sheer volume, but inside Penn State’s recruiting footprint, it is one of the most important states on the map.
If Campbell recruits Maryland well, Penn State’s roster gets faster, deeper and more complete.
If he does not, other national powers will happily take those players instead.
That is why recruiting Maryland is not optional for Campbell.
It is necessary.
