Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1542734
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 6 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M T o call it a flood wouldn't be quite right. The January transfer portal win- dow was certainly a busy time for Penn State and its new head coach, Matt Campbell. The pace of the news might have felt overwhelming at times, but during the two weeks in which the portal was open, it mostly produced an orderly, comprehensible and largely unsurprising reassembly of the Nittany Lions' roster. One big group out. One big group in. One restocked recruiting class. And one big group that held steady. What amounted to a virtual merging of programs — Penn State's roster joined by Iowa State's — can't be regarded as entirely finished. A few more dominoes could still fall. But at this smoke-clearing moment, with so many Nittany Lions having made their decisions to stay or go and the first major wave of Cyclones now on campus to follow Campbell and his staff to Happy Valley, the program's past, present and future have begun to crystallize. On the outgoing side, Penn State saw 50 players with remaining eligibility en- ter the transfer portal, 46 of them schol- arship players. In addition, 21 Nittany Li- ons in the fourth-, fifth- and sixth-year senior classes exhausted their eligibility, and walk-on offensive linemen Matt De- tisch and Ian Harvie indicated they had concluded their playing careers. Which departures sting the most is open for debate; many of the portal entrants had not carved out significant roles or earned starting jobs. Still, the list includes a mix of heavy contributors and promising young tal- ent, with more than half of the outgo- ing players holding at least three years of remaining eligibility. Defensive end Chaz Coleman and quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer are the most disappoint- ing losses to many fans, while tight end Luke Reynolds and guard TJ Shanahan Jr. ranked among the team's top 12 in of- fensive snaps in 2025. The loss of former five-star tight end Andrew Olesh will also sting when he begins seeing action for Oregon, and the Lions would likely have preferred to retain running back Jabree Coleman and receivers Jeff Exinor Jr., Tyseer Denmark and Matt Outten. Defensively, that theme is even more pronounced. Linebacker Amare Camp- bell (No. 1 in snaps last season), corner- back A.J. Harris, safety King Mack, de- fensive end Zuriah Fisher and defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam all held meaningful roles. Combined with the defenders who exhausted their eligibility, Penn State has lost 10 of its top 12 contributors from the 2025 season. On the retention side, PSU carried 52 players — 15 of them walk-ons — from the 2025 roster into the first of- ficial count of 2026. A trio of offensive contributors — redshirt junior tackle Anthony Donkoh, junior guard Cooper Cousins and redshirt junior tight end Andrew Rappleyea — stand out as sig- nificant wins. The Lions also held onto a number of high-ceiling developmental players such as redshirt freshman of- fensive lineman Malachi Goodman, sophomore receiver Koby Howard and redshirt sophomore running back Quin- ton Martin Jr. Defensively, injured redshirt junior linebacker Tony Rojas headlines the re- turnees. Redshirt senior cornerback Au- davion Collins, senior nickel Zion Tracy and sophomore defensive end Yvan Ke- majou were all meaningful contributors last season. On the incoming side, Iowa State's priority transfer targets largely followed Campbell to Penn State. Beginning with the first commitment from senior tight end Benjamin Brahmer, the total now stands at 24 former Cyclones who are Nittany Lions in 2026. Redshirt senior quarterback Rocco Becht is the marquee name, but the col- lection of Iowa State additions largely reads as a "best of" list from Ames. Ju- nior receiver Brett Eskildsen, senior run- ning back Carson Hansen and Brahmer all project as immediate top returnees at their positions based on last season's production. Defensively, junior safety Marcus Neal Jr., and senior linebackers Kooper Ebel and Caleb Bacon finished Nos. 1, 2, and 3 in total snaps for the Cy- clones. That foundation gives Campbell something solid to build on. But follow- ing a 7-6 season in Happy Valley and an 8-4 campaign in Ames, it was under- stood that the new staff needed to look beyond the Penn State and Iowa State rosters. To get what they needed, they turned offensively to junior running back James Peoples of Ohio State, redshirt sophomore receiver Keith Jones Jr. of Grambling and redshirt sophomore of- fensive lineman Brock Riker of Texas State, among others. The defensive ad- ditions were even more plentiful, and they included a pair of senior tackles from UCLA in Siale Taupake and Keanu Williams, sophomore defensive end Alexander McPherson of Colorado and sophomore linebacker Chris Fileppo of West Virginia. Throw in a pair of transfer specialists, and the Lasch Building will be a melting pot of new perspectives and contribu- tions in the coming months. With nearly all of the personnel now in place, the real team-building work can begin. ■ When linebacker Tony Rojas announced he was return- ing to PSU for his redshirt junior season, it gave a big boost to Matt Campbell's retention efforts. PHOTO BY FRANK HYATT O P I N I O N NATE BAUER NATE.BAUER@ON3.COM HOT READ Penn State Will Be A Blended Family In 2026