RUMOR: The reason Penn State was unable to hire Campbell until now is that he refused to negotiate in-season and told them he would talk after the season if they did not hire anybody else in that time. They got the deal done as soon as the regular season ended. https://t.co/9r6C7R55hx

— Chase Mudd 🇻🇦 (@FlyingZebra30) December 5, 2025

This guy has been posting about Campbell to Penn State this afternoon. Apparently he has some skins on the wall re: breaking news in the Philly/Pennsylvania sports world.

Tough loss for ISU if it indeed comes to fruition. Campbell, for his flaws, is the best coach Iowa State's ever had.

It's true, I have a few buddies still in the strength & conditioning program at ISU. Filled me in last night. Some on here have suggested Campbell was way down Penn Sts list and that's unfortunately incredibly inaccurate.
Matt has long been a guy who simply won't discuss other jobs in season. That's likely kept him in Ames longer than most thought.
Tough blow for the Clones

Yeah, I popped over to Cyclone Fanatic to see their take, and it looks like they've already resigned themselves to the fact that he's gone. Sorry to hear it, tough for your alma mater, Iowa.

Yeah that's a big blow. Most on here know just how putrid the program was prior to his arrival. I'd argue the worst P4/P5 program in the country. Or at least in that discussion. He's certainly left Ames in a better place than he found it. Hopefully they can land a respectable replacement

That sucks for them, but it's good for us. Campbell is a good coach that has put a lot of guys in the NFL

Top 3 coach in the league.. tough break.

Iowa st actually produced more high level pro players than anyone in this league recently. Not a coincidence.

ISU's fanbase hates Baylor in a way that makes no sense to me, given the lack of geographic proximity or long history together, and they're incredibly vocal about it.

That said, fk em. They can sit and spin. Hope they go back to the pre-Campbell eternal suck (minus a few years with Dan Carney).

This is the biggest myth on this board. I'd know more than anyone if this sentiment was true. And it's absolutely not. Are there fans within the ISU fanbase who despise BU? Yes (I have no idea why) but this overall idea that the entire fanbase hates Bu is simply false

Disclaimer: I think Matt Campbell is a really good coach.

But this feels like at best a lateral move for Penn State.

I think Penn State will look back decades from now and view the firing of James Franklin as one of the worst moves in their program's history. It might only avoid being the worst because they have Sandusky in their history.

You don't fire a guy who wins 10 games almost every year because you're tired of him because the odds of replacing him with someone better are almost nonexistent.

I like Campbell a lot. I've said so many, many times here. But I think it's extremely likely that he leaves Penn State with a worse record than James Franklin.

And the "can't win the big one" criticism is only a valid reason for firing a coach when you can actually hire an upgrade (ie. Kirby Smart at Georgia).

College football history is littered with programs who fired or ran off good coaches to get to "the next level" and found the next level was down. Penn State is very likely about to be the newest.

A massive BU 71-7 blowout victory over the Iowa State Cyclones on October 19, 2013 still keeps them up at night.

It's absolutely a lateral move. I think Campbell is a darn good coach. Winning in Ames is one of the toughest gigs in the P4. That said, the bar at Penn St is much much much higher. Campbell has a high floor. But I'm not sure his ceiling will ever reach what PSU is looking for

Hopefully he can find a championship winning defensive coordinator to go with him……

IowaBear said:

---

It's absolutely a lateral move. I think Campbell is a darn good coach. Winning in Ames is one of the toughest gigs in the P4. That said, the bar at Penn St is much much much higher. Campbell has a high floor. But I'm not sure his ceiling will ever reach what PSU is looking for

---

Agreed. I would have said the exact same thing if Penn State had hired Matt Rhule, who I'm also a big fan of.

IowaBear said:

---

This is the biggest myth on this board. I'd know more than anyone if this sentiment was true. And it's absolutely not. Are there fans within the ISU fanbase who despise BU? Yes (I have no idea why) but this overall idea that the entire fanbase hates Bu is simply false

---

Strong vocal online presence because of Tent Gate.

Seemed kind of a recurring theme in the Ten12 podcast space too that the ISU folks just disliked Baylor & Baylor fans more than others.

Robert Wilson said:

---

ISU's fanbase hates Baylor in a way that makes no sense to me, given the lack of geographic proximity or long history together, and they're incredibly vocal about it.

That said, fk em. They can sit and spin. Hope they go back to the pre-Campbell eternal suck (minus a few years with Dan Carney).

---

That's McCarney, good lad.

Iowa and Texas are by far the 2 most hated teams amongst the ISU fanbase. Walked that campus 3 years. Heard Baylor mentioned once. And that was I. Reference the the B12 tournament (men's basketball) I don't pay much attention to message board talk as that accounts for like 3% of a fanbase

This is a loss not only for ISu but the conference. I agree good coach with a high floor. Maybe with P2 money he can raise his ceiling. I really respect making Penn State wait until the regular season was over.

Campbell's had an overabundance of emotional support and rah-rah from ISU. He's never had a fraction of the $$$ support he'll have at PSU - and we all know that's the crucial component to building a contender in this era.

Certainly he's not guaranteed to outperform Franklin but I think the potential is definitely there, while I think ISU is likely going to take a step back for a while given their financial situation

bear2be2 said:

---

I think Penn State will look back decades from now and view the firing of James Franklin as one of the worst moves in their program's history. It might only avoid being the worst because they have Sandusky in their history.

You don't fire a guy who wins 10 games almost every year because you're tired of him because the odds of replacing him with someone better are almost nonexistent.

---

Concur. And Va Tech capitalized, along with getting his staff and recruiting class.

IowaBear said:

---

This is the biggest myth on this board. I'd know more than anyone if this sentiment was true. And it's absolutely not. Are there fans within the ISU fanbase who despise BU? Yes (I have no idea why) but this overall idea that the entire fanbase hates Bu is simply false

---

I don't know about entire (that seems silly on its face), but there's an extremely vocal online contingent that has spent an unusual amount of time hating on Baylor. And frankly beyond that I don't care.

IowaBear said:

---

It's absolutely a lateral move. I think Campbell is a darn good coach. Winning in Ames is one of the toughest gigs in the P4. That said, the bar at Penn St is much much much higher. Campbell has a high floor. But I'm not sure his ceiling will ever reach what PSU is looking for

---

It's not a lateral move. It's going from dating the girl next door to dating a fading movie star. Would you probably be happier with the girl next door? Sure. Is that likely to be a longer lasting relationship? 100% But that doesn't make it lateral.

GoodOleBaylorLine said:

---

IowaBear said:

---

It's absolutely a lateral move. I think Campbell is a darn good coach. Winning in Ames is one of the toughest gigs in the P4. That said, the bar at Penn St is much much much higher. Campbell has a high floor. But I'm not sure his ceiling will ever reach what PSU is looking for

---

It's not a lateral move. It's going from dating the girl next door to dating a fading movie star. Would you probably be happier with the girl next door? Sure. Is that likely to be a longer lasting relationship? 100% But that doesn't make it lateral.

---

We're saying it's a lateral move for Penn State, not Campbell.

Damn that sucks for ISU, he polished that turd for a long time

IowaBear said:

---

Iowa and Texas are by far the 2 most hated teams amongst the ISU fanbase. Walked that campus 3 years. Heard Baylor mentioned once. And that was I. Reference the the B12 tournament (men's basketball) I don't pay much attention to message board talk as that accounts for like 3% of a fanbase

---

Well, sure of course Iowa is much more hated. That's a given.

But Texas is long gone.

Since the Texas exit, the people left to hate in the Big 12 seemed to fall to us.

IowaBear said:

---

It's true, I have a few buddies still in the strength & conditioning program at ISU. Filled me in last night. Some on here have suggested Campbell was way down Penn Sts list and that's unfortunately incredibly inaccurate.
Matt has long been a guy who simply won't discuss other jobs in season. That's likely kept him in Ames longer than most thought.
Tough blow for the Clones

---

This may settle a discussion we have had over the years. I have said he is overrated, you have said he wasn't.


Now, if he is mediocre at Penn St you admit he is overrated?

bear2be2 said:

---

GoodOleBaylorLine said:

---

IowaBear said:

---

It's absolutely a lateral move. I think Campbell is a darn good coach. Winning in Ames is one of the toughest gigs in the P4. That said, the bar at Penn St is much much much higher. Campbell has a high floor. But I'm not sure his ceiling will ever reach what PSU is looking for

---

It's not a lateral move. It's going from dating the girl next door to dating a fading movie star. Would you probably be happier with the girl next door? Sure. Is that likely to be a longer lasting relationship? 100% But that doesn't make it lateral.

---

We're saying it's a lateral move for Penn State, not Campbell.

---

Herbstreet says it will be the best hire made this cycle.

Why do you insist on dick measuring contests?

BUBBFAN said:

---

bear2be2 said:

---

GoodOleBaylorLine said:

---

IowaBear said:

---

It's absolutely a lateral move. I think Campbell is a darn good coach. Winning in Ames is one of the toughest gigs in the P4. That said, the bar at Penn St is much much much higher. Campbell has a high floor. But I'm not sure his ceiling will ever reach what PSU is looking for

---

It's not a lateral move. It's going from dating the girl next door to dating a fading movie star. Would you probably be happier with the girl next door? Sure. Is that likely to be a longer lasting relationship? 100% But that doesn't make it lateral.

---

We're saying it's a lateral move for Penn State, not Campbell.

---

Herbstreet says it will be the best hire made this cycle.

---

Does that support my case he is overrated or Iowa's he is underrated?

Robert Wilson said:

---

ISU's fanbase hates Baylor in a way that makes no sense to me, given the lack of geographic proximity or long history together, and they're incredibly vocal about it.

That said, fk em. They can sit and spin. Hope they go back to the pre-Campbell eternal suck (minus a few years with Dan Carney).

---

Do they hate us enough to come steal Aranda?

IowaBear said:

---

Yeah that's a big blow. Most on here know just how putrid the program was prior to his arrival. I'd argue the worst P4/P5 program in the country. Or at least in that discussion. He's certainly left Ames in a better place than he found it. Hopefully they can land a respectable replacement

---

McCarney had the Cyclones playing pretty well when he was there, wasn't he? Seems like he was there for a while and did pretty well.

Iowa state back to poverty ?

Official... 8 year deal (!) to go to Happy Valley.

Yeah he had a few really nice seasons in Ames. Prior to him though it was bleak. I don't think most realize just how bad that program was haha. That's why I'll argue with anyone about Campbell. I'll be shocked if the next coach has anywhere near the same levels of success

That's risky! Would have stayed in the 5 year range

Iowa St already filled the position. FAST.


Jimmy Rogers from Washington St.