Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1544665
M A Y 2 0 2 6 3 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M already starting to coalesce — from his mantra of "players, formations, plays" to the way he structured the workday. Over time, the details came into focus. Earlier this year, Campbell shared some of them with Penn State beat writers during his news conference previewing spring practice. "When we were in COVID, everything went online at Iowa State," he said. "I just felt like there was so much going on that the best thing we could give our players was us to start the day. Equally, I thought the best thing that our players got was our opportunity to interact with them, and we got their best." There are multiple layers to the idea of morning practice that Campbell both ar- ticulates and implies. One of the advan- tages of practicing early, he said, is that it allows players to begin the day with a shared experience. "I think it gives our young men a start to their day, which is huge," he said. "It gives them breakfast, gives them lunch after practice, and gives us a chance to reconnect with them over dinner. … I think we saw injuries significantly de- crease because we had that opportunity. They're not sitting in class, and their day didn't start slow. Everybody's day starts the same, and it starts with breakfast, it starts with the opportunity to be in an en- gaging environment. Academically, you saw everything skyrocket." Two themes surface in Campbell's explanation for the switch to morning practices. The first is connection. The communal process of sharing meals and engaging with his players is structured in the same way a family might organize its day. The second is the food itself. One of the most consistent themes out of the Lasch Building in recent months has been the intense focus on nutrition, particularly breakfast. Campbell mentioned breakfast three times in 30 minutes during a recent media session — not by coincidence but as part of a deliberate message. For an athlete trying to maintain or gain weight, hitting daily caloric and macro- nutrient targets is essential. College stu- dents, however, tend to sleep in and skip the morning meal. That's no longer an acceptable option under the Penn State staff. Critically, Campbell tested the value of morning practices the hard way — by abandoning them. "Like most bullheaded head coaches, that's not what we've always done," he said. "We went back to normal in '21, and I went back to afternoon practice. We slipped academically, and we slipped with our production, and it was a major mistake on my end." Getting Ready For The Big Ten The emphasis on nutrition from Camp- bell and his staff is also tactical, given the program's conference affiliation. The Nit- tany Lions have been getting bigger in the trenches this offseason, and the effort is entirely intentional. Earlier this year, Campbell proudly noted that his players had collectively "put on over 480 pounds in eight weeks because we ate breakfast and we were accountable about going to dinner every day." That's accountability, yes — but it's also "I think it gives our young men a start to their day, which is huge. It gives them breakfast, gives them lunch after practice, and gives us a chance to reconnect with them over dinner. … I think we saw injuries significantly decrease because we had that opportunity." M A T T C A M P B E L L O N T H E B E N E F I T S O F M O R N I N G P R A C T I C E Junior offensive lineman Cooper Cousins said Matt Campbell's practice routine has been effective at helping players build the right habits. PHOTO BY RYAN SNYDER