With the dismissal of James Franklin following the Penn State loss to Northwestern, the Nittany Lions were in the market for a new head coach this off season.
In landing Matt Campbell from Iowa State, the Nittany Lions hired the best coach available in this cycle. In the meantime, much of the roster left to either follow James Franklin to Virginia Tech or transfer to other schools. This leads to many questions for the new coach about how this season will go. Many of these questions will be asked this week as Penn State and the rest of the Big Ten Conference lands in Chicago for media days.
The first question fans and alumni want to answer will be to know how he plans on using his 24 transfers from Iowa State to compete in the Big Ten. A decidedly more challenging conference than Big XII.
While veteran QB Rocco Becht will be able to replace QB Ethan Grunkemeyer, Campbell was unable to keep more important players from transferring out. If the 48 transfers and signees are unable to provide the talent which left Happy Valley, Penn State will be in for a difficult first season under the new regime.
Another question to be asked will be the ease of the Penn State schedule and how it will help in the adjustment period for both Campbell and the new roster members.
Penn State will not have to face Ohio State, Oregon or Indiana in 2026. The most challenging game will be against Michigan in Ann Arbor. But Michigan also has questions with new coach Kyle Whittingham coming in and Athletic Director Ward Manuel stepping down this fall.
Penn State is one of the Big Ten powerhouses who rarely challenge themselves in non-conference games. This is another of those seasons as the Nittany Lions will face Marshall, Temple and Buffalo before entering the conference schedule.
The final question which will be asked will be about Campbell himself. He will be forced to answer how he will manage the situation of being at a Recruit big and develop program rather then a develop first and hope to land one big name recruit.
The answer Campbell gives to this question will show exactly if he knows what is expected of him in this job. If he comes out and states that he is still a developmental program, it will not go over well for fans.
If he instead embraces going after the five-star and four-star athletes whom Penn State fans were used to getting under Franklin, he will allow the fans to relax a little bit and give him a chance during the 2027 off season to prove himself worthy of this prestigious job.
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