Penn State football, Matt Campbell losing WR coach to NFL: Reports

It appears that Penn State football already is losing one of its new assistant coaches to the NFL.

Highly-regarded receivers coach Noah Pauley, who had followed new head coach Matt Campbell from Iowa State, will be leaving the Nittany Lions after less than two months on the job, according to Thursday, Feb. 5 reports from CBS Sports and others.

Pauley, 36, is expected to become the new receivers coach of the Green Bay Packers.

Pauley, coincidentally, just met with Penn State media members on Wednesday in State College as part of a meet-the-new-Penn State staff press conference. He talked of looking forward to helping improve the Nittany Lions’ struggling receivers room with a mix of Iowa State transfers and PSU holdovers, like promising sophomore Kobe Howard.

Now, however, Campbell must hire another new assistant just a month before spring practice begins. The 2026 season starts on Sept. 5 in Beaver Stadium against Marshall Thundering Herd.

Pauley came to Penn State after spending three years coaching receivers under Campbell, including the 2024 season in which he tutored two 1,100-yard wideouts. He was named the top receivers coach in the nation by FootballScoop.com and reportedly interviewed for the San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator job.

He was replacing assistant Marques Hagans, who oversaw Penn State struggling receivers’ room the past few seasons. No PSU wideouts totaled more than 452 receiving yards in 2025 and the group was infamously shut out in January’s College Football Playoff semifinal loss to Notre Dame.

Pauley impressed at Iowa State after a highly-successful stint leading receivers at national championship-winning North Dakota State. There, he won a pair of FCS titles, in part, by developing current Green Bay Packers receiver Christian Watson, the No. 34 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

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: Penn State football coach Noah Pauley leaving for NFL, Green Bay Packers