Former Penn State football quarterback Drew Allar came to Happy Valley as a five-star recruit ranked as the No. 3 overall prospect and No. 1 quarterback. Over his four years, though, his development didn't live up to the hype Nittany Lions fans had for him. Even as a senior, for the first half of the season Allar was healthy for and active during, he couldn't overcome the hurdles — mental and physical — that held him back from reaching his full potential.
This wasn't entirely Allar's fault. Former Penn State head coach James Franklin and offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki didn't adjust the offense to their quarterback's skillset.
"It just didn't feel like that was very compatible, I think we can say that in hindsight" Ty Hildenbrandt said of the combination of Kotelnicki's offense and Allar under center.
Allar was supposed to be part of Franklin's rescue mission for the program. The extent of which the now Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback and Virginia Tech head coach could save the Nittany Lions had a hard limit, however.
That limit didn't just apply to overall records and a big picture perspective. Allar didn't develop the tools he needed to truly succeed at the next level, evident by a rough footwork video that surfaced during rookie minicamp. He wasn't set up to fail necessarily, but he wasn't set up for success either.
How Matt Campbell handles his QBs is VERY different from James Franklinhttps://t.co/oma2MNsjoz pic.twitter.com/QkQd93Bz6C
— T-FrankOn3 (@ThomasFrankCarr) June 10, 2026
One thing Penn State fans can anticipate, though, is those flaws in Franklin's approach to coaching quarterbacks and constructing an offense with his offensive coordinator are not likely to carry over into head coach Matt Campbell's tenure.
"[Quarterback Rocco Becht] has been with Matt Campbell. He has been in this offense for a while. He knows how it works," Hildenbrandt said.
How it works for Campbell and Co. is building the system around the players. Hildenbrandt noted how that philosophy is something both Campbell and Mouser share, meaning Becht will be set up for success and the staff won't try to fit a square peg in a round hole as Kotelnicki and Franklin did with Allar.
"If you take any of [offensive coordinator] Taylor Mouser and Matt Campbell's comments at face value, one of the things that they've talked about is building the scheme around the players and not vice versa," Hildenbrandt said. "I feel like that was the story over the last two seasons, if we want to use Drew Allar as an example with how they crafted the offense while Andy Kotelnicki was in town . . . I don't know if that's going to be the same issue now when we're talking about Matt Campbell and Rocco Becht and Taylor Mouser just because we've seen it and I think they're a little bit better at adapting the system to the talent on hand."
Campbell isn't starting over with a completely new quarterback room. He and Mouser have already developed Becht and his skillset up to this point, so there's a level of comfortability, familiarity, and trust between Becht and the staff and Becht and the offensive scheme.
Becht now enters the 2026 season as the most experienced quarterback in the NCAA. It's helpful that there aren't any huge expectations for this Penn State squad, but even if it were the case, Campbell and Mouser wouldn't fold under high-pressure circumstances to mold this offense and team into something it isn't.
Add us as a preferred source on Google