Penn State hires Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, closing long head coaching search

Penn State’s long, winding and at times clunky coaching search ended in Ames, Iowa, with the hiring of a coach who seemed destined to land in the Big Ten.

Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell is coming to Penn State. He has signed an eight-year deal to take over the Nittany Lions, sources familiar with the negotiations told The Athletic.

Fifty-four days after Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft fired James Franklin midway through a season that started with Penn State ranked No. 2 before spiraling with three straight Big Ten losses, the fourth-year AD filled the vacancy.

Matt Campbell named 17th head football coach at Penn State, pending board approval Monday. #WeAre

— Penn State Athletics (@GoPSUsports) December 6, 2025

Just a few days after being jilted by BYU coach Kalani Sitake, Kraft reset the search and reached out to Campbell, who has had unprecedented success at Iowa State since taking over the forlorn Big 12 program in 2016.

Kraft went to Ames on Thursday to meet with Campbell face-to-face. Two sources said the meeting went well and Friday was spent finalizing the terms of the contract.

Campbell, 46, is 72-55 overall and 50-40 in the Big 12 since taking over at Iowa State. The Cyclones made their only two Big 12 title game appearances under Campbell and they beat the teams at the top of the conference more than ever before. The Cyclones have 12 combined wins in their history against Oklahoma and Texas and five came under Campbell. He was also 4-6 against top-10 teams at Iowa State, a program that has a total of 12 top-10 victories in 128 years of football.

“He’s had an amazing run as our football coach,” Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard told KCCI News. “He had other times he could have left and chose not to. Matt Campbell, though, owes Iowa State nothing. He did more than we could have ever dreamed he would do as our head coach.”

Including a five-year stint as Toledo’s head coach, Campbell’s overall record is 107-70. Campbell has been sought after over the years. He received interest from the New York Jets and Detroit Lions that he declined, and he was a finalist for the USC job that went to Lincoln Riley. He has also been particular. The Ohio native and former player at Division III powerhouse Mount Union now gets a chance to lead one of the Big Ten’s premier programs and help Penn State try to chase down Ohio State. The Buckeyes have won nine straight meetings against the Nittany Lions.

Penn State finished this season 6-6, closing with three straight victories under interim coach and former Nittany Lions player Terry Smith, who interviewed to replace Franklin and had support from current and former players. A source involved in the decision told The Athletic that Smith will be retained and remain part of Campbell’s staff.

Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard had Campbell’s replacement named within an hour of news breaking about the coach’s departure. The Cyclones named Washington State’s Jimmy Rogers their new head coach. Rogers went 6-6 with the Cougars this season after going 27-3 with an FCS national title in two seasons as South Dakota State’s coach.

Campbell’s hiring closes a long and difficult chapter for Penn State athletics. Following the Nittany Lions’ 22-21 home loss to Northwestern on Oct. 11, which dropped the team to 3-3, Kraft fired Franklin, who was 104-45 in 12 seasons at Penn State.

The skid was kick-started by a double-overtime loss at home to No. 6 Oregon and also included a 42-37 defeat at previously winless UCLA. It was a shocking flip from not only Penn State’s preseason ranking but from where it was in January. The Nittany Lions were tied with Notre Dame late in the Orange Bowl national semifinal before an interception set up the Irish’s game-winning field goal. But Franklin routinely fell short in big-game situations with a 1-15 record against top-five competition, including 14 consecutive losses, and fan frustration mounted.

Penn State initially was on the hook to pay Franklin around $49 million, but that number was subject to mitigation for when he received his next job. Franklin, who landed the head coach job at Virginia Tech, settled with Penn State for $9 million.

The ensuing search roped in prominent coaching names from across the country — and was thought to help trigger extensions for Curt Cignetti at Indiana, Matt Rhule at Nebraska and Sitake at BYU, possibly among others. Louisville’s Jeff Brohm, James Madison’s Bob Chesney and former New York Giants coach Brian Daboll also drew attention from Kraft.

When Sitake pulled out earlier this week, days after other profile jobs such as LSU, Florida and Auburn were filled, the pressure ramped on Kraft. He pivoted to Campbell and quickly struck a deal with a coach that many thought would have been among Penn State’s initial batch of candidates.