Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1541990
J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 6 2 9 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M ture NFL offensive and defensive line- men each year. At a certain point, the 3-3-5 becomes unnecessary when you can recruit at a higher level. And that's before we even get to personnel issues. For example, Penn State doesn't have a nose tackle with the size and movement skills to make the plan work at this level. From a coverage perspective, there's significant overlap between the Iowa State defense and the style of former Penn State coordinator Jim Knowles, as well as the overall trend in college foot- ball. Knowles' defensive system is an evolution of this approach with a four- down front. Program Building Campbell's program-building style fits Penn State but will need to evolve. In many ways, his approach to recruit- ing and roster development is just like Franklin's. He's a development-oriented coach who prefers to recruit his region at a high level and find the right "fit" for his organization. But here we come to the crux of Camp- bell's issues at Iowa State. During his time with the Cyclones, he had neither the talent nor the resources to recruit that style and create a team truly capable of winning at the highest level. The problems with Iowa State's of- fense and defense are talent-driven. The offensive line lacks size, strength and elite traits. The defense runs the style it does because it cannot routinely recruit four-star linemen to employ another scheme. It's easier to find safeties and linebackers who can run than to find the kind of freakish linemen who populate the rosters of the top programs. Recruiting Iowa State recruits within a six-hour radius of Ames. Outside of that sphere of influence, the program is not overly com- petitive for recruits. The general feeling is that it's not worth going into Florida or Texas because those players will cost more in NIL money than the program can afford, and there's a chance they'll leave anyway if they get homesick. When you consider those factors, it makes sense that Iowa State's average fin- ish in the Rivals Team Recruiting Rank- ings was 50th during Campbell's time with the program. It also increases the level of respect one should have for his ability to deliver a winning product most years. While Penn State has no such restrictor plate on its recruiting, it has relied heav- ily on Pennsylvania and the surround- ing region. Certainly, Campbell comes to the program with fewer contacts nation- ally, but those can be developed. It also helps that Penn State has retained one of its best recruiters in interim head coach Terry Smith. Generally, Campbell's ability to recruit has been so restricted that we don't have enough information to predict how he will fare with the Nittany Lions. It is with- out a doubt the biggest question about his fit at Penn State. NIL/Transfer Portal Every school has the $20.5 million revenue-sharing account to pay for its sports. Of course, Iowa State allocated much of that to football, so NIL and pay- ments are not alien to Campbell's team. However, the efforts of Iowa State's NIL collective were described as "grass- roots." Generally, it's understood that Iowa State has far fewer NIL resources than its rivals in the Big 12. Like Franklin at Penn State, Campbell preferred to use his budget to secure the roster rather than go into the portal to lure players to Ames. The question for Kraft and Campbell is whether he would use Penn State's resources differently. 'Big Game' Performance There's no way to downplay the nar- rative left by Franklin at Penn State. The team has been highly successful for years, but it has failed to win the games that fans care most about. It's both over- discussed and very real. Under Franklin, the Lions were 4-21 against AP top-10 opponents and 1-10 versus Ohio State. During his 10 years at Iowa State, Campbell went 4-7 against top-10 foes. His last top-10 win was in 2021 when the Cyclones defeated No. 8 Oklahoma State, 24-21, in Ames. Final Analysis Kraft has clearly outlined a vision for a more aggressive, competitive program in the NIL era that will be less collegial and more NFL-style. In that respect, he and Campbell are not in alignment, at least on the surface. However, Campbell's approach and development style are perfect fits for Happy Valley and what the Penn State football brand has been. The goal for Campbell will now be to bridge the gap between the old and the new. With deeper talent and resources, his proven history of punching above his weight in the Big 12 may make him the guy to get Penn State over the hump. ■ Iowa State's Campbell Era NFL Draft Picks Year Player Pos. Round/Pick Team 2019 David Montgomery RB 3/73 Chicago 2019 Hakeem Butler WR 4/103 Arizona 2021 Kene Nwangwu RB 4/119 Minnesota 2022 Breece Hall RB 2/36 New York Jets 2022 Enyi Uwazurike DT 4/116 Denver 2022 Charlie Kolar TE 4/128 Baltimore 2022 Brock Purdy QB 7/262 San Francisco 2023 Will McDonald IV DE 1/15 New York Jets 2023 Xavier Hutchinson WR 6/205 Houston 2023 Anthony Johnson Jr. DB 7/242 Green Bay 2024 T.J. Tampa DB 4/130 Baltimore 2025 Jayden Higgins WR 2/34 Houston 2025 Darien Porter CB 3/68 Las Vegas 2025 Jaylin Noel WR 3/79 Houston 2025 Jalen Travis OT 4/127 Indianapolis