Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546586
OPENING SHOT TAKING IT ALL IN When he came out of the tunnel before his first game as Penn State's head foot- ball coach, Matt Campbell made his way to the 35-yard line and paused briefly to take in the moment. There was a lot to absorb. The 46-year-old coach had said goodbye to Iowa State nine months earlier, leaving behind a comfortable en- vironment where he had experienced unprecedented success to take on the challenge of elevating the Nittany Lions to championship contention. Standing on the field at Beaver Stadium, Campbell reflected on the path that had led him to that moment. He had started as a graduate assistant at Bowling Green, followed by assistant coaching stints in Division III and the Mid-American Con- ference. His first head coaching job was at Toledo, which led him to Iowa State, where he went 72-55 in 10 seasons. And now he's at Penn State, a place with a storied history and the kind of cachet that can help a coach realize his greatest ambitions. "There are probably a lot of moments of insecurity in my own journey as a coach at times where you're so worried about everything else that you don't have a chance to sit there and soak it in," Campbell said. That brief moment ahead of Penn State's opener against Marshall "was re- ally special," Campbell continued. "To come out and watch our fans and see what this place feels like and look up and see those teams [memorialized] on the scoreboard and on our press box and what it's meant to our great coaches and players to play here, you're just grate- ful to have the opportunity as a football team to continue to try to represent the past of this program." Campbell and his team added some luster to that history, rolling to a 45-0 vic- tory over Marshall on Sept. 5 in front of an announced crowd of 108,489. It was victory No. 1 for Campbell and No. 956 for the Nittany Lion football program. — Matt Herb PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS O C T O B E R 2 0 2 6 9