Penn State adds to Class of 2026 with handful of Iowa State flips
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Just days after officially being introduced as the new head coach of Penn State’s football program, Matt Campbell is busy building his coaching and football staff and adding to the Class of 2026. After inheriting a recruiting class that signed just two players in the early signing period, Campbell knows there is a lot of work to be done to fill some spots on the roster with the Class of 2026. In the past few days, Penn State has added a handful of commitments to the Class of 2026, bringing the total class count up to 6 players.
Not surprisingly, given the current situation with the coaching change as Campbell moves from Iowa State to Penn State, all four new commitments to Penn State’s Class of 2026 are players who previously committed to Iowa State when Campbell was the head coach. Those new additions include a pair of three-star safeties from Nebraska with Tyrell Chatman and Bryson Williams, three-star quarterback Kase Evans from Texas, and three-star punter Lucas Tenbrock from Illinois.
All four of these players did sign with Iowa State in the early signing period but are able to sign with Penn State in February once the signing period opens back up without penalty from the NCAA due to the coaching change in effect. As we have seen with a number of Penn State’s former commitments following former head coach James Franklin to Virginia Tech, the sense from these commitments appears to be tied to the relationships forged with Campbell in the recruiting process.
“All of it was trust in the staff and the belief I had in them to put me in a good spot for my future,” Tenbrock said to Lions247 following his commitment to the Nittany Lions. “Committing to Penn State was the right choice for me as many of the reasons why I initially wanted to attend Iowa State revolved around the leadership and trust Matt Campbell had on full display giving me a sense of comfort I hadn’t gotten from many other schools.”
There is still a lot of work to be done with the Class of 2026, of course, and there could still be more potential flips from Iowa State to come. Campbell and Penn State may still have to do some work in the transfer portal despite Campbell’s preferred choice to build through high school recruiting just out of necessity for immediate hole-plugging. But the work is officially underway.
The traditional signing period will open on February 4, 2026.
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This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Penn State flips four Iowa State signees in Class of 2026
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