What Penn State can expect in Year 1 under Matt Campbell

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This year, the Penn State Nittany Lions thought they would be in the national championship game. However, they are now going to be watching a team they have gone 25-2 against all time compete in it.

Still, while a lot of things went wrong for the 2025-2026 Nittany Lions, the hiring of Matt Campbell allowed them to do something unique, something that the team playing in tonight's national title game(Indiana) have done so well themselves: rebuild the roster as quickly as possible by brining in players familiar to their new coach. For that reason, it isn't farfetched to say that Campbell can be the next Cignetti in the college football landscape.

So the question arises: what can we expect from a new-look Penn State squad, reloaded and rebuilt in Matt Campbell's image? And most importantly of all, how quickly can he get them to the mountaintop of college football, much like his Big Ten counterparts already have?

First of all, for fans to completely understand the roster, they also have to understand the overhaul as well. Penn State lost 72 players from their roster in 2025, as 50 of those 72 were transfer portal entries. But Campbell's impressive work in the portal himself potentially compensated for those losses. He brought in 39 players in the transfer portal, tied with UCLA for the biggest portal class this year. 23 of those players came from Campbell's former program, Iowa State. And in many ways, it all started with the talisman of the bunch: former three-star quarterback Rocco Becht.

With Becht, Penn State now has one of if not the most experienced QBs in college football at the helm of their offense. Not only that, but he will be playing alongside his fellow teammates from the Cyclones as well. He will be handing the ball off to Carson Hansen and throwing the ball to his two leading receivers from last year in Chase Sowell and Brett Eskildsen. Furthermore, many of the Penn State returners, like tight end Andrew Rappleyea and receiver Koby Howard could be huge contributors as well. Toss in an O-line that returns several four and five star talent and there is immediate infrastructure for this offense to build around.

As for the defense, they may need time to cohere, but they now have a Southern California flair, as new defensive coaches D'anton Lynn and Ikaika Malloe were able to lure two big defensive line players to Happy Valley in Siale Taupaki and Keanu Williams. Still, a lot of the secondary and linebacking corps will have to be figured out through Campbell's influence, as players such as Caleb Bacon and Marcus Neal Jr. can help in those departments.

Most importantly though is how Matt Campbell chose to invest his money in his first year and how he will invest it in the future. With more budget and more resources at a school like Penn State, it will be important for Campbell to understand where to allocate his funds. He has already done a stellar job by not necessarily swinging for the fences in the portal and instead sticking with the faces he knows.

Lastly and probably most surprisingly, is the fact that he will get a light schedule to start. This year, Penn State won't be facing the likes of Indiana, Oregon, Ohio State, Illinois, or Iowa. In fact, they only play one game against a program that won nine games last season. This makes for a potential immediate playoff run under Campbell in Year 1.

Still, expectations must be tempered as Penn State still have a long way to go to make every new piece work and most importantly, win when it matters. After all, these new players have yet to go spring camp together. However, Penn State fans can at least start hoping that the rebuild could happen sooner than they think.

This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: What Penn State can expect in Year 1 under Matt Campbell

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