If there was 1 question about Matt Campbell’s ability to translate his success from Iowa State to Penn State, it was whether or not he could recruit at an elite level. So far, with the top 2027 Pennsylvania recruit, Kemon Spell, committing to Georgia, while the Nittany Lions have yet to add a commit in the class, that question is still lingering.
However, it appears that Campbell is making progress in addressing it. He’s doing so by strengthening his coaching staff’s ties to the mid-Atlantic region, which is where they should dominate the recruiting trail.
One of Campbell’s few outside hires to his coaching staff this offseason was running backs coach Savion Huggins, a New Jersey native who spent the last four seasons at Boston College. Then, after former Iowa State wide receiver coach Noah Pauley left for the NFL, Campbell replaced him with another New Jersey native, Kashif Moore.
As Nittany Sports Now’s Joe Smeltzer pointed out on social media, Campbell appears to be intentionally targeting assistants with local ties as he seeks to establish himself as the recruiting powerhouse in the northeast and mid-Atlantic.
Penn State’s new WR coach Kashif Moore is from Burlington, New Jersey.
— Joe Smeltzer (@joesmeltzer775) February 16, 2026
In hiring him and RB coach Savon Huggins (Jackson, New Jersey), Matt Campbell has made it clear that he plans to get after recruiting the Mid-Atlantic.
Kashif Moore’s New Jersey roots and mid-Atlantic ties may not be a coincidence
Moore played for UConn from 2008-11 before returning to the UConn staff as Jim Mora Jr.’s wide receiver coach in 2023. This offseason, Mora was hired as Colorado State’s head coach after back-to-back nine-win seasons with the Huskies, and Moore followed him out West before the Penn State job came open.
While Moore and Huggins aren’t PA natives, their regional ties could prove vital to Campbell landing an elite in-state class in 2027. This year’s crop of talent in Pennsylvania looks to be one of the best ever, which puts even more pressure on Campbell to deliver a recruiting class that could be the foundation of a national championship team at Penn State.
The Nittany Lions have also historically had plenty of success recruiting in New Jersey and the surrounding states. With no other college football powerhouses in the Northeast, especially since Pitt has fallen off in the ACC, Penn State should land the majority of the top recruits in the area. NIL has obviously changed that somewhat, helping to make recruiting more national, but local ties still matter, and Penn State finally has some.
From the coaching staff to the roster, Campbell essentially transported his Iowa State program from Ames to Happy Valley. That should pay off in the short-term with a competitive team, but in the long-term, Campbell needs to build strong connections in the region to sustain success.