Regardless of whether Penn State stuck with James Franklin or moved on to Matt Campbell, this was always going to be a busy season. The 2025 roster was loaded with seniors and draft-eligible juniors that the staff would be tasked with replacing. That was kicked into overdrive though by the coaching change.
Luckily, Matt Campbell and general manager Derek Hoodjer, have nearly an entire roster Iowa State roster to pick from. No program in the country had more players enter the portal than Iowa State’s 47 this offseason, and already, just three days into college football’s lone transfer portal window, many of them have committed to Penn State, making Happy Valley, at least for one season, Ames East.
Rocco Becht leads bevy of Iowa State transfers committing to Penn State
Iowa State veteran tight end Benjamin Brahmer was the first Cyclone to commit to the Nittany Lions, doing so on Saturday, the second day of the transfer portal window. However, it seemed that Campbell’s three-year starting quarterback, Rocco Becht, catalyzed a deluge of commitments on Sunday.
Following Becht’s commitment, which had long been anticipated since the rising redshirt senior announced his intention to transfer before the portal window opened, Penn State locked up commitments from 14 other former Cyclones, ballooning the portal class to 16 strong early in the window.
Here is a list of the former Iowa State players committed to transfer to Penn State through Monday morning:
- Benjamin Brahmer, TE
- Rocco Becht, QB
- Karon Brookins, WR
- Carson Hansen, RB
- Brett Eskildsen, WR
- Will Tompkins, OT
- Gabe Burkle, TE
- Caleb Bacon, LB
- Alex Manske, QB
- Marcus Neal Jr., S
- Kooper Ebel, LB
- Cael Brezina, LB
- Trevor Buhr, IOL
- Chase Sowell, WR
- Alijah Carnell, DL
- Kuol Kuol, OT
Becht is the No. 8 quarterback on the market according to Saturday Blitz’s rankings. Brahmer is the top tight end, Gabe Burkle also slots in the top 10, Marcus Neal Jr. is the No. 4-ranked safety, and Caleb Bacon is the 13th-ranked linebacker.
While Campbell and Hoodjer are doing a great job filling out their roster with familiar faces, they may need to stray outside of just former Cyclones to compete in the Big Ten because a roster that went 8-4 in the Big 12 isn’t exactly going to grab a spot in the 2026 College Football Playoff.
When does the college football transfer portal close?
Unlike years past, college football has just one transfer portal window taking place from January 2 through the 16. That leaves 11 more days for Penn State to round out its roster before Campbell’s first season, and with how many departures that program suffered, he and Hoodjer still have a lot of work to do.