How Matt Campbell, Terry Smith drive Penn State football future

The first official Penn State football practices under head Matt Campbell next month will feature a unique blending of the program’s past and future.

He’ll be working a revamped roster, about a quarter of which are his former Iowa State players still getting acclimated to the program. Same for the bulk of his new coaching staff.

A backbone of his transition, though, are the former Penn State players who are helping lead his staff and more.

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He appears to be leaning hard into Penn State’s history to navigate what comes next.

It begins with coaching hires − four former Nittany Lions will hold key positions on his staff with others working off-field positions − but goes deeper.

From former Penn State star receiver and interim head coach Terry Smith leading cornerbacks to former cornerback D’Anton Lynn leading the entire defense. Former star linebacker Dan Connor and quarterback Trace McSorley remain as assistant position coaches.

Previous standout defenders Jordan Hill and Alan Zemaitis will work key development and recruiting jobs.

They’ll all coach and manage spring practice sessions together for the first time in mid-March − an early prelude to a new-look 2026 season.

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Even more, Campbell is spending significant time reaching out to lettermen through the decades, to seek their input and to open team headquarters to them and their families, according to Smith and others.

Campbell has repeatedly referred to those former players as “the superpower” of Penn State football.

“Our greatest gift is those that came before us,” he said.

“I’ll be honest with you; I’ve really tried to work really hard and will continue to work really hard at unifying and aligning our history, our former players back involved in our football program, because I think it’s so critical.

“It’s what makes Penn State football really special. It’s what has made the greatest time and the greatest eras and the greatest moments in this history of Penn State football. It makes it an honor to represent every day.”

Campbell, who brought along much of his on-field and training staffs to Penn State, will be anchored by Smith, his new assistant head coach. Smith’s retention hire was announced just a couple of hours after Cambell was named head coach in early December.

Lynn will be in charge of his third college defense after leading USC and UCLA the past few years. Its his first significant Penn State return since playing for Joe Paterno’s last team in 2011.

Connor, Penn State’s all-time leading tackler, remains on staff to help new linebackers coach Tyson Veidt.

“I met with Dan Connor, and it took two seconds to say, this human gets it,” Campbell said in early February. “He is Penn State football, what he stands for, what he talks about excellence looking like, what’s gone well, what are some of the areas that need to move forward.

“I think Dan was so articulate in where this program is, why he loves Penn State football, what it did for him, and honestly, how he envisions this program moving forward. It was such a great match.”

McSorley, Penn State’s record-setting leader from 2015-18, will continue assisting new quarterbacks coach Jake Waters. Their prime focus will be senior transfer Rocco Becht, the former Iowa State star.

“I think Trace is just starting how special his career has got the ability to be,” Campbell said. “You talk about one of the winningest quarterbacks and, in my mind, I kept thinking about how him and Rocco have very similar traits … what they’re about and the impact that he could have in a positive way on Rocco.

“There’s been times I’ve got to Trace, like man, what have you seen? Like, give me some insight on your thoughts on what’s gone well, what hasn’t gone well, how do we move ourselves forward.”

Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at  fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Matt Campbell, Terry Smith drive Penn State football future with past