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Max Olson
Iowa State coach Matt Campbell has agreed to an eight-year deal to become the next head coach at Penn State, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel. The deal will go before the compensation committee of the school’s board of trustees for final approval on Monday.
Campbell, the winningest coach in Iowa State history, met with Penn State officials Thursday night before negotiating a deal on Friday. Iowa State has scheduled a team meeting for 8 p.m. ET Friday, sources told ESPN.
In its search to replace longtime coach James Franklin, who was fired on Oct. 12, Penn State shifted its focus to Campbell after BYU coach Kalani Sitake decided to remain with the Cougars and agree to a long-term extension on Tuesday.
Campbell, the three-time Big 12 Coach of the Year, led the Cyclones for 10 seasons and achieved eight winning seasons, two Big 12 championship game appearances and a Fiesta Bowl victory over Oregon in 2020 for the school’s first-ever top-10 finish.
Campbell, 46, went 72-55 during his decade at Iowa State, becoming their all-time winningest coach last season, and went 35-15 as head coach at Toledo from 2011-2015.
He’ll bring strong Midwest ties to the job as a Massillon, Ohio, native who began his college playing career at Pitt before winning three national championships as a player at Division III Mount Union.
This season, Iowa State started 5-0 and climbed as high as No. 14 in the AP poll before a four-game losing streak knocked the team out of the Big 12 title race. The Cyclones rallied with a three-game win streak in November to go 8-4.
Last year, Iowa State went 11-3 in 2024 and would’ve advanced to the College Football Playoff with a victory over Arizona State in the Big 12 title game.
The program achieved a No. 15 finish in the AP poll after defeating Miami in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
Campbell and his coaching staff have developed 15 NFL draft picks over the past seven years, including NFL stars Brock Purdy, Breece Hall and David Montgomery, and defensive end Will McDonald IV became the first Cyclone to be selected in the first round since 1973.
Before Campbell’s arrival, Iowa State hadn’t had a winning season since 2009 and hadn’t played in a Big 12 championship game. The Cyclones won 14 games against AP top 25 opponents during his tenure.
Campbell has been a serious candidate for high-profile coaching jobs throughout his decade at Iowa State, including the Detroit Lions and USC, but has preferred to stay in Ames and continue building up a program that had never achieved a 10-win season until last year.
Campbell was earning $5 million per year in total compensation at Iowa State after agreeing to a contract extension through 2032 with the school earlier this year.
Penn State ranked No. 2 in the preseason AP top 25 and was expected to compete for a national championship in 2025 after reaching the College Football Playoff semifinals last season. Franklin was fired amid a three-game losing streak to open Big Ten play that dropped the Nittany Lions out the rankings at 3-3.
Franklin agreed to a five-year deal to become the head coach at Virginia Tech on Nov. 17 and a $9 million settlement with Penn State on the $49 million buyout that he was originally owed upon his firing.
Penn State promoted longtime assistant Terry Smith to interim head coach to finish the season and won its final three Big Ten games to become bowl eligible at 6-6.
