Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1535618
J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 5 11 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M unit, specifically after a bounce-back 41-14 win over Virginia in late Octo- ber. Campbell wore the green dot as the team's on-field liaison and called the defense for the Tar Heels for most of the 2024 season. That was appealing to the Lions, who lost Mike linebackers Kobe King and Tyler Elsdon after the season. Junior Tony Rojas and redshirt senior Dominic DeLuca are expected to be the guys taking over that role this season (though only one green dot helmet is allowed on the field at a time). When Campbell went into the portal, the move quickly got the attention of a few current Penn State players. Led by Rojas, players chimed in on social media to persuade Campbell to join them in Happy Valley. It had happened before, but this time around, the scope of the recruitment seemed to be greater. Ro- jas, who was also a member of the 2023 class from Northern Virginia, made it clear he wanted to reunite with the for- mer Unity Reed standout. Rojas wasn't the only one backing Campbell, either. Penn State sought out opinions from coaching contacts, those around him in high school and other mutual acquaintances. The feed- back was almost unanimously positive. Good family, hard worker, aggressive and passionate — those were the recur- ring themes. Campbell wasn't a team captain in Chapel Hill, but it seems like he was on that path. Penn State had been caught off-guard when redshirt sophomore linebacker Ta'Mere Robinson entered the portal in April. Robinson was going to play a role this season, although he was not going to be a starter. He left a gap in the eligibility calendar as a redshirt sopho- more. Campbell will join the program this summer as a true junior. Although it's never as simple as a one- for-one deal, Penn State essentially swapped out Robinson, who signed with USC, for Campbell. They had different roles at their previous institutions, but the production edge certainly goes to Campbell. Robinson had 13 tackles in 17 games at Penn State. Campbell put up 90 tackles, including 12.5 for loss and 7.5 sacks, in 24 career games. The full-game films make it clear Campbell still has room for growth. His place in the On3 Transfer Portal Rank- ing — No. 120 overall and No. 4 among linebackers — looks nice, but it's best not to get preoccupied with those numbers. He will arrive soon, and Penn State will figure out the best way to deploy him in its defense. A lot will depend on baseline testing and how quickly he can soak up coordina- tor Jim Knowles' scheme. It will certainly be a crash course for him this summer. Listed at 6-foot, 230 pounds, Campbell is more Mike than Will, but there's not enough of a difference between the two spots to pigeonhole him as one or the other. His addition would seem to indi- cate that Penn State wants three players ready to go at a position group that often gets banged up. On both sides of the ball, the Nittany Lions know what they have on their roster in 2025. Even more important, they know what they're lacking. They didn't go out and get another receiver and linebacker this spring just because they felt like it. Franklin and athletics director Patrick Kraft saw a window and did what they could to fill the gaps that they perceived. There's still a lot of work to do, but the outlook is mostly positive moving for- ward. Even after Campbell's signing, the Nit- tany Lions were keeping an eye out at a few positions — namely defensive tackle and safety. They also had expressed in- terest in former Rutgers linebacker Mo- hamed Toure, but as expected, those hopes faded after Campbell's commit- ment. With Miami looking like the over- whelming favorite, PSU ceased its pursuit. Campbell's signing gives Penn State eight additions via the transfer portal this offseason. The three wideouts — seniors Pena, Kyron Hudson and Devonte Ross — were brought in to play right away. Red- shirt sophomore interior lineman TJ Sha- nahan Jr. is on a longer development path, but he likely moved into the two-deep at guard with the departure of JB Nelson for Kansas State. On defense, Campbell and junior safety King Mack should figure into the rota- tion at their respective positions, while redshirt freshman defensive tackle Owen Wafle could also find his way into the mix in 2025. It remains to be seen what kind of impact redshirt junior defensive end Enai White can have this season. Taken together, Penn State's offseason haul may lack the big individual splash of a Chop Robinson, an Arnold Ebiketie or maybe even an A.J. Harris, but several were necessary pickups in areas where Penn State needed immediate help. Of course, the entire class will likely be graded by how those receivers turn out. What needs to be remembered is that the team took a big step forward this offseason just by retaining much of its top-end talent. Because of that, Penn State was left with cracks to patch rather than holes to fill. That's a good sign for a team hoping to improve on last year's national semifinal finish. ■ Penn State's Spring Transfer Moves COMING Name Pos. Elig. Ht. Wt. Transfer Status Amare Campbell LB Jr. 6-0 230 Arriving from North Carolina Trebor Pena WR R-Sr. 6-0 184 Arriving from Syracuse GOING Name Pos. Elig. Ht. Wt. Transfer Status Beckham Dee LB R-Fr. 6-1 229 Destination TBD Chase Meyer K Sr. 5-10 181 Signed with California Jon Mitchell CB R-Fr. 5-11 195 Signed with Georgia Tech Joseph Mupoyi DT R-So. 6-5 261 Signed with North Carolina JB Nelson OL R-Sr. 6-5 326 Signed with Kansas State Ta'Mere Robinson LB R-So. 6-3 223 Signed with USC