The biggest question about Matt Campbell as he makes the jump from Iowa State to Penn State is his recruiting acumen. He’s always been an elite talent developer, turning three-stars into NFL draft picks, but he hasn’t regularly been in the mix for four and five-star players. Well, he’s being put to the test immediately, especially where it matters most.
Pennsylvania is a talented high school football state, but not typically one of the country’s foremost recruiting hotbeds. The 2027 class, though, is shaping up to be a potentially generational one in PA, and Campbell is not off to a hot start.
After missing out on five-star running back Kemon Spell, Penn State failed to crack the final five for his four-star teammate, wide receiver Javian Robinson. Robinson announced his top five on Monday, and it was a list that included many of Penn State’s historic rivals: Pitt, West Virginia, Syracuse, Miami, and Rutgers.
2027 4-star wide receiver and Pennsylvania native Javien Robinson does not include Penn State in his top 5.
— Zach Seyko (@zach_seyko) February 9, 2026
Robinson is teammates with Georgia commit Kemon Spell. https://t.co/TNpGGOCBat
Penn State misses out on Javian Robinson’s top five without a WR coach in place
Penn State has been in the mix for Robinson throughout his recruiting process, but likely fell out of the race with the departure of wide receiver coach Noah Pauley for the Green Bay Packers.
Pauley followed Campbell from Iowa State, where he also served as the team’s passing game coordinator, but left last week after being presented with the opportunity to reunite with Christian Watson, whom he coached at North Dakota State. Pauley has built a reputation as one of the sport’s up-and-coming position coaches, not just for producing Watson at NDSU, but for helping to develop Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel at Iowa State.
With Penn State’s wide receiver struggles at the end of the James Franklin era in Happy Valley, Pauley was a huge addition and now leaves a massive void. Campbell has yet to hire a replacement for Pauley, and it appears as though that is setting Penn State up for another in-state recruiting blow.
By 247Sports Composite, the 6-foot-2 Robinson is the 12th-ranked player in PA and 279th in the country. Penn State has yet to land a 2027 commit, while two of the top 10 in-state recruits have committed to out-of-state programs: Spell to Georgia and four-star offensive tackle James Halter to Notre Dame.
Even with Robinson likely off the board, Penn State still has plenty of opportunities to land top-tier in-state talent, including two at wide receiver with four-stars Matthew Gregory and Khalil Taylor, the third and fourth-ranked players in the state.
Taylor was a previous Penn State commit under Franklin, and while he’s still predicted to land with the Nittany Lions, Campbell needs to get a wide receiver coach in place to complete his recruitment.