Matt Campbell, Penn State Confident They Can Excel Where James Franklin Failed

CHICAGO — With pen in hand and talking points rehearsed, new Penn State head coach Matt Campbell introduced himself to the Big Ten and the throngs of reporters attending the conference’s annual media days event in a manner that mimicked his polished predecessor, James Franklin. 

Campbell’s handy writing utensil provided a callback to Franklin taking notes during weekly news conferences in the Lasch Building. His reverence for Penn State president Neeli Bendapudi and athletics director Pat Kraft could have been cut and pasted from any number of Franklin’s comments in recent years. As could Campbell’s line about the Nittany Lions’ continuing to lead with "character, integrity, class and excellence," all while chasing the program’s first national championship since 1986.

But if everything unfolds according to plan — if Kraft gets validated for dismissing Franklin last October, less than a year removed from reaching the College Football Playoff semifinals, before hiring Campbell in December — then the similarities between his new coach and his old one must stop with their public personas. Campbell is tasked with nudging Penn State over the line Franklin failed to reach at a time when several Big Ten rivals have entrenched themselves atop college football. 

So for Campbell and Penn State, the Big Ten Media Days represent a comparison between Campbell’s perceived ability to do more with less at Iowa State, and Franklin’s perennial struggle to convert high-end resources into signature wins; between a regime that always seemed to shy away from heightened expectations — especially in public settings like this one — and a group that is now speaking openly about contending for a national title this fall.

"If we were ever going to leave Iowa State," Campbell said, "it was going to have to be a school and an institution that really fit how I believe and what I believe [is the right way to] build culture, how you build a team and how you build forward. I think for the last six months, we've been reminded why it was such a great fit for us at Penn State."

The Nittany Lions contention hopes this fall originate with the players’ unwavering belief in Campbell, starting with quarterback Rocco Becht, who followed Campbell from Iowa State. On Tuesday, Becht compared Campbell to Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti when asked to predict the immediate impact he expects from the new staff. When Cignetti jumped from James Madison to IU ahead of the 2024 season, he added more than 30 players via the transfer portal, including 10 who had started for the Dukes. Campbell signed 24 former Iowa State players in a 39-man transfer class, tied for the sixth-largest haul in the country and second-biggest in the Big Ten behind UCLA.

Becht described Penn State’s group of former Cyclones as "some of the best players that we had at Iowa State," a place where Campbell won 19 games over the previous two seasons and reached the Big 12 title game in 2024. Since arriving at Penn State, which lost 18 of 22 starters from last year’s team, those who followed Campbell have become invaluable conduits between the coaching staff and the holdovers from Franklin’s roster who remained with the program. 

"We’re able to help the transition with other players," Becht, one of three players representing Penn State, said on Tuesday. "We’re able to help lay that foundation that Coach Campbell wants to build. We won games at Iowa State. Building that over here, we just have the same mindset [while] blending in with the Penn State players. We just want to win, no matter what it looks like."

Campbell, 46, is a consistent winner. Beginning in 2012, he led three nine-win campaigns in four full seasons at Toledo, the last of which earned him MAC Coach of the Year. Then he took home the same award from the Big 12 three times in his first five years at Iowa State. Campbell’s name almost always circulated when marquee jobs became available in college and the NFL. His four wins against top-10 opponents — the same number Franklin amassed in more than twice as many attempts — helped that case. 

Almost immediately, the former Cyclones who transferred to Penn State offered a discrepancy in Campbell's approach to the high-leverage moments that eroded Franklin’s standing with the fan base. The Iowa State transfers said Campbell believed a team should prepare the same way each week, regardless of whether the opponent was ranked or winless. The Penn State holdovers described Franklin’s tendency to add more walk-throughs, meetings and details for players to memorize when facing elite competition. Their nerves tightened. 

"It would be more draining toward us," Rojas said. "And I think Coach Campbell is going to do a great job, you know, just treating each game like it should be, treating each game opponent like any other. So yeah, I think it was a thing [we struggled with]. But that’s something that we’re going to overcome this year."

Becht, a three-year starter at Iowa State, will be heavily leaned upon as a leader. Entering the 2026 season with more career victories (26) than any active FBS quarterback, he embodies Campbell’s system. Becht became a unifying force for a roster in flux this past winter, lobbying prospective teammates considering a transfer to remain at Penn State. He helped form a group chat with more than three dozen players designed to outline the team’s goals this fall. 

The expectation, they said, is to win at the highest level. And Campbell is the reason for their confidence. 

"Being around that guy for four years now," Becht said, "what he’s been able to build culturally, the standards that he’s been able to build, the expectations that he has for his players, it’s something that I really wanted to be a part of for my last year because we have a special relationship. 

"And I wanted to bring it somewhere else, I wanted to have a reset, and blending that with Penn State’s rich history — the historic program that it is — is something that I’m super excited to be part of now."

Life after Franklin has begun.