Penn State reportedly hires Matt Campbell to new multi-year deal that's hard to believe

Penn State football reportedly hired Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell to lead the Nittany Lions moving forward. After a long head coach search, Penn State finally latched onto a target without letting him slip by its fingers.

ESPN's Pete Thamel posted on Friday, Dec. 5 at 7:24 p.m. ET that the Nittany Lions and Campbell are in the process of finalizing an eight-year deal. The parties are awaiting board approval for the compensation that has yet to be publicly announced.

Matt Campbell to Penn State is nearly a done deal, according to ESPN

The last update from Thamel was a team meeting that the Cyclones reportedly scheduled is being held at 8 p.m. ET, nearly 40 minutes before Thamel reported that Campbell is in the process of becoming Penn State's head coach officially.

"Penn State is finalizing an 8-year deal to make Matt Campbell the school’s next head coach. The deal is pending board approval for the compensation," Thamel wrote on Twitter/X. "Campbell has agreed to be Penn State’s coach and the sides have hammered out terms."

The Nittany Lions fired James Franklin on Oct. 12, meaning it's almost two months later that they found his replacement. While athletic director Pat Kraft can take a sigh of relief, an eight-year deal is an absurd amount of time for a coach that has yet to prove he can truly build Penn State to where Kraft expects.

ESPN reports Matt Campbell's deal with Penn State is waiting board approval

Thamel reported that Campbell is one step away from becoming Penn State's next head coach.

Once the board approves the contract, Campbell will have to get started immediately salvaging everything from players threatening to leave for the Transfer Portal to the lackluster and embarrassing recruitment classes. While his contract is reportedly for eight years, Campbell doesn't even have eight months to turn things around with how long it took for the Nittany Lions to find Franklin's replacement. If anything, it's closer to eight days.

Penn State reportedly committing $30 million in NIL for Matt Campbell

Following the finalization of Campbell's deal, The Athletic's Matt Fortuna posted on Twitter/X, reporting that the Nittany Lions are committing nearly $30 million in NIL funds and $17 million in staff pool for Campbell.

News of Campbell's total pay over the eight years and average salary have yet to be announced.