Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1543434
M A R C H 2 0 2 6 2 7 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T H E B I G P I C T U R E / / / / / / / Iowa State in December 2015, he main- tained the same humble attitude that had served him so well in the Mid-American Conference. "I think sometimes you can have a sense of ego and entitlement in coaching," Campbell said. "You think you have all the answers. But the reality is, you don't have all the answers." Campbell may not have had all the an- swers, but he had enough to compile a 72- 55 record over 10 seasons, and his success with the Cyclones led to another job, this time at one of college football's all-time winningest programs. With 14 full seasons of head coaching experience now under his belt, including 12 winning campaigns and 10 bowl ap- pearances, Campbell has made it abun- dantly clear heading into his tenure as Penn State's new head football coach that he really does know what the heck he's doing. It's a fortuitous bit of timing as far as the Nittany Lions are concerned, because he arrived in State College at a moment when a lot of other people had figured out what they were doing. And what they were doing was leaving. No Rules In Recruiting Penn State had been without a perma- nent head coach since early October when Campbell was hired on Dec. 8. The pro- tracted search for James Franklin's suc- cessor had given players ample time to weigh their options and even entertain under-the-table offers now that college football's once-rigid transfer process has devolved into a lawless free-for-all. By the time the portal opened on Jan. 2, a stampede to the Lasch Building's exit doors was all but assured. "Our team had been picked at for the last three months," Campbell said. "There are really no rules in recruiting, and it cer- tainly looks like they've been recruited for the last three months." Because it had been brewing for so long, the Nittany Lions were fully prepared for the exodus. Forty-six scholarship play- ers ended up leaving, the third-most of any team in the Power Four confer- ences. Defensive end Chaz Coleman, the No. 5 overall player in the portal per On3, headed to Tennessee. Tight end Luke Reynolds, the No. 45 overall player, re- surfaced at Virginia Tech, and defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam, No. 75 overall, made plans to join Coleman with the Volun- teers. All told, there were five Nittany Li- ons among On3's top 100 transfers. Twelve of the departing players headed to Virginia Tech, where Franklin had been hired in November. That, too, was all but assured. Unlike many of the other Power Four head coaches who had been axed in 2025, Franklin didn't have to settle for a Group of Six job or go back to being a co- ordinator. He didn't end up embroiled in a lawsuit with his former school or get ar- rested. Franklin landed on his feet, and he capitalized on his good fortune by bring- ing in players like Reynolds, quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer and receivers Tyseer Denmark and Jeff Exinor Jr. The loss of so many quality players was disheartening but not surprising. Shortly after Campbell arrived, he and his staff began having conversations with the players they had inherited. Since they had been mulling their future for months, most knew whether they would be staying or going, and their cer- titude helped the staff figure out quickly which areas they needed to prioritize when the portal opened. "Knowing who was coming back was critically important," Campbell said, "because it allowed us then to say, 'OK, how do we go build a team? Let's not just acquire a team, let's build a football team and build a team where … it looks like a team. It's not senior-laden. It's got good layers.'" Penn State ended up welcoming 37 scholarship transfers, the sixth-highest total in the Power Four. Twenty-three of those players came from Iowa State, a list that included last year's leading Senior tight end Benjamin Brahmer is the highest-rated player in Penn State's incoming transfer class, coming in at No. 29 overall in On3's rankings. PHOTO BY JEFF SPOUR/IOWA STATE ATHLETICS