Recapping Matt Campbell At Big Ten Media Day

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Matt Campbell took the podium yesterday at Big Ten media day. You can watch his whole press conference below:

Of course, I’m here to summarize some of the more intriguing things he said.

• Love Matt having a sharpie in his hand during the entire press conference. Why? Who knows. He wasn’t writing anything down. If he was going to, why he was doing it with a marker? It makes no sense. But he’s a football coach. Gotta have that sharpie just in case.
• I don’t think he said “obviously” once. I didn’t know you were allowed to do that?
• He did say “community” a lot.
• Matt, right away, opens with saying the Big Ten is the best conference in the country. That was a theme on the day, with Illinois coach jabbing that the SEC is stuck in 2005.
• “It’s a fan base that loves football” but Matt points out that winning the right way is important here. Integrity. Class. Excellence. You get the idea.
• He described Pat Kraft as “passionate” and “competitive.” Would be curious to hear Mike Rhoades thoughts on Pat Kraft after his comments recently.
• Campbell mentioned the importance of the education players get at Penn State. I don’t mean this in a snobby way, but I really would be curious how many coaches around the country said the word “education” during their media days. Did Kirby Smart? Did Dan Lanning? Genuinely curious because maybe they did.
• On Anthony Donkoh: “He was the first young man who decided to come back to Penn State when we got to campus.”
• On Rocco Becht: “The winningest quarterback coming back in college football this year.”
• On Tony Rojas: “We lost him in the Oregon game last year.” Technically not true, coach. We lost him in the lead up to the UCLA game. Don’t ask what happened in that game I don’t wanna talk about it.
• On the locker room, he said it’s a room filled with guys who stayed at Penn State and others who come to Penn State “for a devoted cause.”
• LeBron James is a Phildelphia 76er, by the way. That has nothing to do with Matt Campbell, but it feels important to mention. LeBron. A Sixer. Wow.
• “We get the opportunity to pursue Success With Honor” — hello! You hear that 80s and 90s grads? Open up the checkbook. We are HONORING those who came before us.
• Campbell said that D’Anton Lynn has been a defensive coordinator in the Big Ten for the last three seasons. Again, coach, I have to correct you. UCLA was not in the Big Ten in 2023.
• Campbell pointed out that D’Anton Lynn and his family have a “deep passion for the community.” Which is interesting because we were told that D’Anton Lynn didn’t come to Penn State to be the DC last year because his wife didn’t want to live in Central PA. Hmm. Interesting.
• We already knew this, but Penn State is going to have a four-man front, not the 3-3-5 that Matt Campbell ran at Iowa State. He mentioned that the original move to the 3-3-5 was because the Big 12, at the time, was more of an air raid league. But in recent years, with most teams switching back to pro-style offenses, Iowa State was beginning to adjust to be more 3-4. It’ll be 4-3 or 4-2-5 at Penn State, though.
• Some Terry Smith love. Well-deserved.
• Campbell was asked again why he didn’t leave for the Detroit Lions but he did for Penn State. Just pointed out how it was the perfect fit for him.

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