Every coaching staff, depending on the scheme they run, the skillsets they value, their size thresholds, and a myriad of other factors, has a type. That type can be different at every position, and there are exceptions to every rule, but with each passing recruiting class, you can get a better sense of what the team is looking for.
Matt Campbell isn’t even a year into his Penn State tenure, but he has largely the same offensive staff from his time at Iowa State. Offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser followed him from Ames to Happy Valley, so they, along with general manager Derek Hoodjer, are going to be looking for the same type of player, and at running back, after two commits this week, it’s clear what that type is.
On Tuesday, the Nittany Lions landed a commitment from 6-foot-1, 212-pound four-star running back Aiden Gibson out of South Carolina. Then, on Thursday, they followed it up with a commitment from 6-foot, 220-pound New Jersey three-star Chukwuma Odoh. Two big, physical backs built to grind out yards between the tackles.
Penn State is building a physical offensive identity in the backfield
Ohio State transfer James Peoples is a bit more undersized at 5-foot-10, 210 pounds, at least relative to his backfield mate Carson Hansen, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Iowa State transfer. Still, Peoples is best as a downhill runner who can hit the hole with authority and finish runs with physicality.
Hansen is a three-down back who can get to the edge and turn the corner on outside zone runs. That’s where much of his production came last season, but he has good vision to find holes between the tackles and is a load to bring down once he gets to the second or third level. He doesn’t have home run speed, and that would be the knock on Gibson and Odoh, but that’s clearly not what Campbell is looking for.
Gibson can rip off chunk plays because his quickness and contact balance make him difficult to tackle in the open field. Still, at the Big Ten level, he’s not going to win a ton of foot races with defensive backs. What he will do is keep Penn State on schedule.
Gibson is adept at finding the crease, taking what’s blocked, and then getting a little bit more. He’s also a strong pass catcher, so he can handle all three downs or be interchangeable in a backfield time share.
Odoh is similar. Built with an even lower center of gravity, he can change directions quickly and accelerate through his cuts. He has good contact balance, but again, he’s rarely going to run away from defenders or destroy a pursuit angle, unless it’s with a quick jump cut. It would seem that Campbell is completely fine with that because he and Mouser are looking for chain-movers in the backfield, not hunting explosives.
That shouldn’t be a surprise if you think back to Campbell’s best backs at Iowa State, David Montgomery and Breece Hall. Both are big physical runners who, even in the NFL, are still difficult for defenses to get on the ground.
Matt Campbell is sticking to his convictions
It’s still early in the new recruiting reality for Campbell with leveled-up resources at Penn State. However, it appears that he’s holding strong to his convictions, and that’s a much better path to building a winning roster than just hunting the highest-ranked four and five-star talent.
Industry rankings are generic. Like in the NFL Draft, college programs have a very different board than the consensus rankings because they need players who fit their system. This week, Campbell has added two running backs who are excellent fits for what he and his staff want to do, and that's what he's done throughout the early part of the 2027 cycle with 17 commits and the sixth-ranked class in the country.
Campbell has access to better talent at Penn State and resources to land higher-ranked players, but he’s not abandoning his identity, and that should be one of the biggest reasons for Nittany Lions fans to get excited about his tenure.
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