Iowa State has never signed a five-star recruit, and across his 10-year tenure in Ames, Matt Campbell wasn’t often swimming in the four-star waters. Yet, over that time, the Cyclones produced 15 NFL Draft picks, including one first-rounder, edge rusher Will McDonald in 2023, and four draft picks in 2025.
The 46-year-old new head coach of the Nittany Lions has a reputation as one of the best talent developers in college football, but you don’t develop that reputation or produce that amount of draft picks alone. Campbell’s staff is one of the best, and he’s brought many of his assistants with him to Happy Valley, including both of his coordinators, Taylor Mouser and Jon Heacock.
But, on Thursday, he made the one hire that Penn State fans have been most excited for: wide receiver coach Noah Pauley.
Penn State hires wide receiver coach Noah Pauley from Iowa State
Pauley took over as Campbell’s wide receiver coach in 2023 and, in 2024, became the program’s passing game coordinator. 2024 was one of Iowa State’s most prolific passing seasons in school history, with quarterback Rocco Becht throwing for 3,505 yards and 25 touchdowns en route to an 11-win season and a Big 12 Title Game appearance.
Much of Becht’s production came to two wide receivers, Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel, who became second and third-round picks, both to the Houston Texans in the 2025 draft. They were the third and fourth wide receivers drafted from the program during Campbell’s time at Iowa State.
Pauley’s arrival will help to address one of Penn State’s most glaring weaknesses over the final seasons of James Franklin’s time in Happy Valley. Parker Washington, a 2023 sixth-round pick, was the last wide receiver selected out of Penn State, and the Nittany Lions have produced 19 draft picks from that 2023 draft through 2025, four more than Campbell’s entire tenure at Iowa State.
Now in Happy Valley, Campbell and Pauley will have access to more highly-touted recruits, and if they continue to develop at a high level, Penn State’s pass-catcher problems will go away.
The issues developing the position under Franklin and now-former wide receiver coach Marques Hagans became so dire that Penn State dipped into the transfer portal to completely overhaul its wide receiver room for the 2025 season, adding Kyron Hudson, Devonte Ross, and Trebor Pena, who were all in their final seasons of eligibility.