2027 four-star Cooper Ohnmacht is officially listed as an athlete by the recruiting industry, and while many view the 6-foot, 185-pound Kansas native as a wide receiver, Matt Campbell and Penn State’s staff appear to see a brighter future on the defensive side of the ball.
On Thursday, Tom Loy of 247Sports reported that Ohnmacht will be taking three official visits this month, including a trip to Happy Valley on March 28. His other visits are to Wisconsin and Vanderbilt, but Loy indicated that Ohnmacht would be adding other schools to the list later in the spring before making his commitment.
Penn State secondary coach Deon Broomfield is leading Ohnmacht’s recruitment, not wide receiver coach Kashif Moore. Broomfield’s involvement would seem to indicate that if he does commit to Penn State, he’ll be doing so to play safety for the Nittany Lions, not to address their relative weaknesses in the wide receiver room.
Explosive Top247 two-way ATH Cooper Ohnmacht, a coveted WR and SAF target, will visit some heavy hitters in March.
— Tom Loy (@TomLoy247) March 5, 2026
...and he'll do more of the same in April.
The latest on this big-time 2027 prospect...
VIP Story https://t.co/i1hnpeHiK8@247Sports / @coop_ao / @ambermathurin pic.twitter.com/kmXPxtnNRd
Penn State needs help at WR, but Cooper Ohnmacht won’t provide it
Campbell hired Moore away from Colorado State after Noah Pauley left his staff to become the wide receivers coach of the Green Bay Packers this offseason. Moore is now tasked with turning Penn State’s biggest weakness in the final year of the James Franklin era into a strength.
Campbell and general manager Derek Hoodjer addressed the position in the short-term by bringing in former Iowa State wide receivers Brett Eskildsen and Chase Sowell to serve as Rocco Becht’s top targets in 2026. However, the depth of young talent in the wide receiver room is still a significant question mark.
It’s unclear if Campbell will lean on the Transfer Portal as heavily in the future as he did this offseason, but his history as a developmentally-minded head coach would point to high school recruiting as his primary means of talent acquisition. With that being the case, he needs to put together a strong 2027 class, especially at wide receiver.
That makes it a bit surprising that Penn State isn’t targeting Ohnmacht, who is the 335th overall recruit by 247Sports Composite Rankings and the 17th-best athlete in the country, as a wide receiver, but the staff must view his upside as higher on defense.
It’s so early in the recruiting cycle that team needs don’t necessarily need to factor too heavily into decision-making. Especially with a two-way player like Ohnmacht. Still, Campbell and Hoodjer need to continue making strides at wide receiver after securing an official visit from Iowa four-star Landon Blum on Wednesday.