Penn State’s Week 4 matchup with Wisconsin wasn’t just supposed to be Matt Campbell’s Big Ten debut and the Nittany Lions’ coronation as a legitimate conference contender. Campbell also turned it into a massive showcase of his new program, hosting over 60 recruits, including the No. 2 player in Pennsylvania in the 2028 class, George Parkinson IV.
Instead, Penn State’s offense never got out of first gear, the defense bled away the lead it helped build, and the recruits in attendance were on hand to watch Beaver Stadium deflate in real time as Wisconsin pulled off a 24-20 come-from-behind upset.
Campbell’s unconventional approach to the official visit season, hosting one massive visit weekend, seemed to backfire as his staff lost key battles and had multiple commits flip throughout the summer. He may have just made the same mistake again, and it could be costly for the next few classes.
Campbell may do things differently, but you still probably don't host more than 60 recruits for a game unless you feel confident you're going to win it, even if it's homecoming. Typically, the White Out is Penn State's biggest recruiting weekend, and this decision seems to buck that trend.
Matt Campbell still has a lot to prove as a recruiter
Campbell led Iowa State to its most successful 10-year run in program history with a focus on landing players who wanted to buy into his developmental system and turning underrecruited players into Big 12 difference makers. Now, he’s seemingly transporting much of that philosophy, which is what Penn State hired him to do, but there’s no guarantee that it works with elite recruits the way it did with the hidden gems Iowa State so frequently uncovered.
Those scheduling decisions are relatively easy to change if they’re not working. What hasn’t been easy is winning the trust of the in-state recruits in an area Campbell has never recruited regularly before. That will be even tougher if he continues to make a bad first impression on the field.
Penn State has just one in-state recruit ranked in the top 20 in PA for the 2027 class. And that’s a talented group that the program probably couldn’t afford to miss out on.
In-state four-star quarterback James Armstrong’s commitment to the Nittany Lions has been strong. He’s a foundational piece who could potentially start to sell the rest of the state on Campbell’s vision. But it’s a long way from 2027 signing day, let alone 2028, so there’s no guarantee he puts pen to paper.
Recruits don’t decide where they’re going simply because the team won on their visit. It takes a lot more than that to sell them, especially in the NIL and revenue-sharing era. It’s still a factor, though, and it’s about more than one game. It’s about a belief in the trajectory of the program. It’s recruits knowing that if they come, they can contend for championships and play in big games.
Recruits broadly were starting to lose that faith in James Franklin after Penn State’s loss to Oregon last year, even with a Big Ten title on his resume and a College Football Playoff semifinal still large in the rearview mirror. Campbell hasn’t nearly reached those heights in his career, and the small sample at Penn State has been discouraging. And many of those players he’s trying to convince were there in person for it.
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