UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Those looking forward to the head coach announcing himself on the scoreboard or even being the one to lead the team out of the tunnel would leave Penn State football’s 45-0 win over Marshall disappointed.
Penn State coach Matt Campbell is a football guy. He’s also a “we” guy and that showed in a big way when he was asked about not appearing on the scoreboard after the starting lineups were announced like his predecessor, James Franklin.
“I’m good on that,” Campbell said. “The scoreboard’s for the players.”
To Campbell’s credit, the last person he seems to want to talk about is himself and despite being able to share the moment of entering the stadium with his family, it was all business for him.
“I know everybody’s looking for that magic answer and I hate to tell you this, like for me, that was awesome early, but now you’re responsible for it,” Campbell said. “And to me, this team had earned the right to at least get to a game. And I probably was so anxious of watching who this football team could be and where we could respond. And obviously, we know just a little bit more, but we got great videotape evidence now in a chaotic game environment.”
The honor of coaching at Penn State is something that isn’t lost on Campbell. He’s a guy who had family in Pennsylvania growing up and understands what the university and program mean to the commonwealth.
“It was really special to coach here today,” Campbell said. “The environment was second to none.”
To get to this point has been a winding road much like Interstate 99 that leads into State College. It’s been a road full of departures, arrivals and uprooting families to come to Penn State and be a part of the program with Campbell. To his credit, it’s something that is not lost on the 17th full time head coach to win a game for the Nittany Lions.
“It’s been a long road, right? I mean, you’re picking up families from our nutrition staff to our academic staff to our strength and conditioning staff to our coaches,” Campbell said. “There’s a lot of young families that picked up and they moved across the country because of their belief in what we were doing together. That’s that had nothing to do with me. That was a we thing, and I think what’s always been great is is we’ve been always a great team together, and so I am so grateful for them because they set the standard. They help demand a standard of excellence in all of our areas, and they’ve done such a great job developing real relationships with our players so far, and really holding a great standard in our program. So certainly, really grateful for each and every one of them.”
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Quarterbacks Rocco Becht and Alex Manske followed Campbell to Penn State and seemingly didn’t think twice about making the cross-country journey from Ames, Iowa to State College.
“It’s super special. We gave him a game ball today, and he deserves it,” Becht said. “The amount of pressure that he’s been put under, the amount of stuff that he’s been able to get through to get to this point where we are now-it’s truly unbelievable-and I’m just excited for that guy and the whole staff to be able to go out there and get his first win.”
Saturday’s shutout burst open the door to a brand new era of Penn State football, one that seems fixated on all of the right things and not letting insecurities and weaknesses define the program. It was about as good a first impression as a team could have with a completely revamped roster.
“We wanted to get out there and our first impression, really show everyone what we’re about and how we’re going to play our brand of football and stuff,” Manske said. “I think we had a really good first impression, and but I don’t think we can get complacent. We just got to keep going and keep improving every week.”
There’s still plenty of work to be done and after all, the Nittany Lions started last season 3-0 before the season blew up. For Campbell, the first impression met the eye test and is a breath of fresh air compared to where the program found itself in years past.
Those first impressions will live on, but now, it’s all about moving forward and continuing to take the program in the right direction for Campbell and crew.
“What I would tell you is just for me, I did take it in,” Campbell said. “(Former letterwinner) Jordan Hill works with our leadership group with myself and and I thought he did a great job on Monday talking to our players about this is a special place to play football, and it means something. And this crowd and this fan base means something. Take a second and soak it in. I heard that because I thought, there’s probably a lot of moments of insecurity in my own journey as a coach at times where you’re kind of so worried about everything else you don’t have a chance to sit there and soak it in so, it was really special. To come out and watch our fans and watch what this place feels like, and and you look up and you see those teams on that scoreboard or on our press box and what it’s meant. Some of the great coaches and players that have played here, you’re just grateful to have the opportunity to lead a football team and continue to try to represent our fan base in the path of this program the right way.
