Penn State Was The Only School That Could Lure Matt Campbell From Iowa State

As he steadily built up Iowa State’s football program, Matt Campbell regularly turned down other head coaching gigs until his dream job came open.

After a decade in Ames, the 46-year-old from Massillon, Ohio, couldn’t say no to the chance to take over one of college football’s storied programs in Penn State, especially considering the Nittany Lions were offering the three things Campbell sought — a chance to live closer to his boyhood home, work with leaders committed to dedicating resources to the football program and a chance to end his career in Happy Valley.

Campbell was officially introduced as Penn State’s 17th football coach on Monday, just a few hours after the University’s Board of Trustees approved an 8-year contract worth up to $78.5 million including yearly retention bonuses of $1 million.

As he stepped behind a wooden podium in the Beaver Stadium media room, Campbell was immediately emotional as cameras clicked around him. Flanked by athletic director Patrick Kraft and with Campbell's family seated near university president Neeli Bendapudi, Campbell called the chance to coach Penn State "one of the greatest honors" of his life.

"It’s a dream come true for me," Campbell said. "I never wanted to be that coach that was going to jump from job to job. If we were ever to leave Iowa State, I wanted to go somewhere and I wanted to finish my career and I wanted to stand for something that’s bigger than Matt Campbell. It’s not about me. It’s about the players and to represent something bigger than myself."

Campbell, who was Iowa State’s winningest coach with a 72-55 record in 10 seasons, takes over a team that began the year with high expectations, a No. 2 preseason ranking before stumbling to a 3-3 start and a tumble from the rankings that sparked James Franklin’s firing on Oct. 12 after 12 seasons.

"We really got the guy, and the guy who’s going to lead us to a national championship," Kraft said.

The Nittany Lions finished the year under interim coach Terry Smith, going 3-3 over their final six games to salvage a Pinstripe Bowl berth. Penn State will play Clemson in Yankee Stadium on Dec. 12.

Meanwhile, Kraft mounted the longest coaching search in school history that was not without drama.

Numerous names were linked to the Penn State opening, and some potential candidates signed extensions at their current schools, including BYU’s Kalani Sitake. Kraft said there was no timeline to make the hire and instead he was focused on simply "finding the right person."

He admitted that Penn State zeroed in on Campbell as a candidate late and only through "twists and turns in the road." A "late-night call" with Campbell just over a week ago got the process started.

"There will probably be a Netflix documentary at some point," Kraft said, drawing chuckles from the full room. "I was banging my head against the wall, like, ‘Why’d it take so long for us to find each other?’ He was perfect and we connected on so many levels."

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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