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to return in 2026. After overseeing one
of the nation's best special teams units
in 2025, he had options that could have
taken him outside of State College, too.
And, who knows: If he had left, maybe
Barker would have, as well. At the very
least, Lustig's eventual school would have
wanted to do whatever it could to pair
him and Barker together. As it turns out,
Campbell and Penn State did the best job
of all of convincing both to stay put.
"What was interesting that I had to deal
with, because of my situation when the
change happened — and normally this
wouldn't happen — other college coaches
would call me," Lustig said earlier this
year. "They were asking, 'Should we take
Barker? Should we take this kid?' In the
back of my mind, I'm thinking, well, I
might be staying here, so I don't know that
I want to push him to anyone. But that was
a huge part of it. I was getting calls about
Barker before the season was over.
"He handled it unbelievably. I think the
kids end up kind of finding out what their
value is on the free market, and then bal-
ance that with what they've been offered
