Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft took a pretty massive risk moving on from James Franklin. Even with all the expectations and the disappointment of a 3-3 start, he wouldn’t have been blamed for keeping around the man who led his program to a College Football Playoff Semifinal, not even a full year prior.
However, Kraft took the leap, fired Franklin, and in many ways has staked his job security and reputation on Matt Campbell. Penn State needs Campbell to prove it right, and so far, the early returns have been great.
Campbell has been recruiting at a much higher level with Penn State’s resources, and, thanks in large part to 24 former Iowa State Cyclones, he rebuilt the roster through the Transfer Portal to kick off his tenure in Happy Valley. That doesn’t happen if he didn’t set a great culture in Ames, the type of culture that Penn State needs to establish after last year’s turmoil.
It’s a safe bet to say that culture isn’t something to worry about with Campbell, especially after listening to his conversation with Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman of On3.
NEW: Matt Campbell tells @AndyAriOn3 he became emotional watching Iowa State players and their families choose to follow him:
— On3 (@On3) May 14, 2026
"My number one goal was for our football team there (Iowa State) to be taken care of."
"I remember we had 20 players and their families at Penn State… pic.twitter.com/w8GM0R8Aib
Matt Campbell had to rebuild more than just the roster at Penn State
The On3 social media account didn’t quote Campbell exactly. If you listen, he did not say he cried during the meeting with the 20 former Cyclones and their families who opted to visit Happy Valley during this winter’s Transfer Portal window. There’s nothing wrong with it if he did, but that’s just a clear misquote.
Still, Campbell was clearly very emotional about those players wanting to continue to play for him, and that type of love and passion is pretty much impossible to fake. That’s also exactly what Penn State needs right now.
That’s not to say Franklin didn’t love or care about his players. He clearly did, and he’s opened up about the very emotional meetings he had to have on his way out of Happy Valley. However, Franklin has admitted that for the first time in 2025, he abandoned the 1-0 mentality that defined the Penn State culture. He allowed the program and his players to think big picture, to talk about more than just winning the next game, and everything collapsed under that pressure.
Many of the players who attempted to shoulder the massive weight of championship expectations are gone, either off to the NFL, graduation, or gone to Virginia Tech with Franklin. Still, for those who stayed, including members of the coaching staff like Terry Smith, they need a clear cultural reset.
Smith provided a measure of that as interim head coach. But that short stint was more of a palate cleanser than the foundation of a new regime. Campbell is laying that now, and the 24 Iowa State transfers will help him do so.
Add us as a preferred source on Google