When James Franklin was fired six games into the 2025 season, Terry Smith took over as the interim head coach, and after losing his first three games in the role, he led the Nittany Lions on a three-game win streak to reach the Pinstripe Bowl and capped off the year with a win over Clemson at Yankee Stadium.
Smith lobbied hard for the full-time head coaching job down the stretch, and while athletic director Pat Kraft ultimately passed him over for more experience, which eventually took the form of Matt Campbell, Penn State prioritized keeping Smith around. The longtime cornerbacks coach was made the highest-paid non-coordinator assistant coach in college football this offseason.
The thought was that Smith staying around would help keep much of the roster that won those final four games of the year intact. In an assistant coach role, Smith maybe didn’t have the expected sway, or that theory was a pipe dream to begin with. Either way, James Franklin was able to pillage much of the talent in Happy Valley and lead it to Blacksburg, and former defensive coordinator Jim Knowles plucked a few key pieces of his defense for a fresh start in Knoxville.
Still, despite the talent drain at most positions, Smith kept the key pieces in his position room, which is undoubtedly the most talented on Penn State’s 2026 roster, holding onto Audavion Collins, Daryus Dixson, Jahmir Joseph, and Zion Tracy.
While it hasn’t translated to wins, the play of those returners and Josiah Zayas, the three-star recruit Campbell imported from his Iowa State class, has once again proven Smith’s worth.
Penn State’s CB room is a strength Matt Campbell can build around
Campbell and general manager Derek Hoodjer won’t be operating from a position of strength at many positions as they inevitably turn their full attention to the 2027 roster at some point in the near future. Even at another position of relative strength, tight end, Gabe Burkle is out of eligibility after this season, and Benjamin Brahmer and Andrew Rappleyea will be heading into their fifth year if they opt to return.
At cornerback, Penn State will lose Collins, who has sneakily played his way up NFL Draft boards with his impressive first half of the season, and it has already lost Tracy, who has slid back to safety full time. But Dixson and Joseph are both in their second of five seasons of eligibility, while Zayas has been one of the defense’s most impactful players as a true freshman.
Aside from his highlight-reel interception - his second pick of the year, by the way - Zayas played 46 snaps and allowed just two catches on six targets for five yards. He’s been excellent in coverage and has the strength and athleticism to survive as an impactful run defender around the line of scrimmage.
Campbell delivered Zayas to Smith, so he doesn’t get full credit, but getting a three-star freshman ready to contribute in Year 1 is still a feat. Then there’s Dixson and Joseph, who are both playing well on the outside. Assuming Penn State retains all three, that’s a formidable group for next year, which allowed Campbell and Hoodjer to allocate their resources to fixing the rest of the defense.
It wouldn’t have made much sense to hire Smith off the back of a three-game win streak against lesser Big Ten competition, but making sure he stayed around was one of the best decisions Kraft made after firing Franklin, and now his position group, and the recruits he has on the way, with top-100 four-star Kei’Shjuan Telfair leading the way in 2027 and Deonte Flemings Jr. in 2028, will help to expedite the rebuild in Happy Valley.
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