There were other opportunities throughout his 10-year run at Iowa State for Matt Campbell to pack his bags and leave Ames. Every time, even through NFL rumors, he opted to stick it out with the Cyclones. That was, until Penn State came calling this offseason.
Finally, with the gap continuing to widen between the haves and have-nots in college football, and Iowa State unfortunately falling in the latter category, Campbell made the leap, becoming the head coach of the Nittany Lions. And he seemingly took comfort in the belief that he was leaving the program in the capable hands of his offensive coordinator and longtime assistant, Taylor Mouser.
“My initial assumption was I was going (to Penn State) and they were going to name Mouse the head football coach,” Campbell told longtime Penn State beat writer Audrey Snyder in a recent Q&A for her newsletter, Inside the Lions.
Iowa State had a different plan in mind. Rather than trying to keep the program intact, the Cyclones hit the reset button, hiring Jimmy Rogers, former South Dakota State head coach, after a successful one-year stint at Washington State. Iowa State opting to go in a different direction allowed Mouser, along with a huge portion of the roster, to follow Campbell to Happy Valley.
Matt Campbell assumed Taylor Mouser was going to be the next head coach at Iowa State
Mouser spent all 11 years with Campbell and all 10 in Ames. He began as a graduate assistant at Toledo in 2015, and rose from the same role at Iowa State in 2016 to offensive coordinator in 2024. Now, the 35-year-old former Adams State defensive lineman will call plays for the Nittany Lions in 2026.
Mouser has proven himself as a play-caller for the Cyclones and has a built-in rapport with quarterback Rocco Becht. That’s not the only reason, though, that Iowa State not hiring him was beneficial.
Without holding together any meaningful piece of Campbell’s staff, Iowa State players flooded out the door. The program had 55 outgoing transfers, including 23 who followed Campbell and Mouser to Penn State. That group doesn’t just include Becht, the most experienced quarterback in college football heading into the year, but his top five pass-catchers from last season, Brett Eskildsen, Chase Sowell, Benjamin Brahmer, Gabe Burkle, and Carson Hansen. Trevor Buhr will also likely start at left guard.
Some of those players would have gone with Campbell if Mouser had succeeded him in Ames; maybe even most of them. But not all 23. From the way he was speaking about the situation for Snyder, Campbell may not have even fought Mouser for them, and that would have left Penn State in a brutally tough spot.
Iowa State’s decision to opt for a clean break rather than clinging to the remnants of Campbell’s tenure, the most successful 10-year stretch in program history, might be the right decision. But it’ll make things incredibly difficult in Year 1 under Rogers. And their loss is clearly Penn State’s gain with Mouser, Becht, and their favorite weapons ready to take on the Big Ten in 2026.
Add us as a preferred source on Google