Before Matt Campbell even touched down in Happy Valley, he had already begun putting together his Penn State staff. That includes assistants like his longtime defensive coordinator Jon Heacock, who will be following him from Ames, but it also includes front office personnel, like Derek Hoodjer.
Hoodjer has served as Iowa State’s assistant athletics director for football player personnel for the last three seasons, but has been a part of the Iowa State football program since 2011. He began Campbell’s tenure in Ames as his assistant director of recruiting and high school relations before becoming the director of player personnel in 2018.
Iowa State associate AD for football personnel Derek Hoodjer is being hired as part of Matt Campbell’s staff at Penn State, sources tell @CBSSports.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) December 7, 2025
Has been a key leading figure behind the scenes for Campbell throughout his run at Iowa State. Now set to join him at Penn State. pic.twitter.com/wfOfF4zx8U
Derek Hoodjer set to lead Penn State’s player personnel department under Matt Campbell
Like Campbell, who began his head coaching career at Toledo before a 10-year run at Iowa State, Hoodjer has never swam in the four and five-star recruiting waters that Penn State typically navigates. So, while that will be unfamiliar to both Campbell and Hoodjer, it also presents tremendous upside.
Campbell and Hoodjer have routinely competed at the top of the Big 12 despite leading a program that is considerably underresourced compared to the top teams in the country. They regularly churn out NFL talent, identifying and developing overlooked three-star recruits into college football stars and impact players on Sunday.
Of particular note is their success at wide receiver and quarterback, two positions that Penn State had struggled to develop in the waning years of James Franklin’s tenure. Iowa State has had four wide receivers drafted into the NFL under Campbell’s tenure, including two Day 2 picks in the 2025 NFL Draft, Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel. The duo also landed and developed current San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, who was the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Prior to Campbell’s arrival in Ames in 2016, Iowa State’s most recent player drafted into the NFL was Jeremiah George, a fifth-round linebacker in 2014. Their next draft picks came in the 2019 draft: wide receiver Hakeem Butler and running back David Montgomery. Butler was recruited by Hoodjer in the 2015 class, a three-star, and Montgomery was a three-star in Campbell’s first class in 2016.
Both Campbell and Hoodjer have a history of doing more with less, and now they’ll have a chance to level up their operation in Happy Valley, replacing Franklin and his longtime general manager, Andy Frank.