'If I don’t get this right, my career is over': How Penn State landed on Matt Campbell as its next coach

Dec 24, 2025, 07:00 AM ET EQUAL PARTS HAPPY and relieved, Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft sat at the interview table inside the media room at Beaver Stadium with new coach Matt Campbell to his right. After 58 days, Penn State had completed its coaching search with a selection who was both exciting and sensible, someone who seemingly could have been sitting with Kraft a lot sooner. Campbell, only 46 years old, had become Iowa State's all-time coaching wins leader and elevated the ISU program to historic consistency. Plus, he needed no introduction to Penn State and its tradition, having spent much of his childhood following Nittany Lions football while visiting his grandparents in Carmichaels, Pennsylvania. Campbell's hiring drew instant praise. But everyone wondered the same thing: What took so long? "We didn't really have a timeline, I mean that," Kraft said. "We were focused on finding the right person, and at all costs." He paused. "There probably will be a Netflix documentary at some point." Penn State's was the first top-tier coaching job to open during a cycle that included 15 Power 4 hirings, but, until the Sherrone Moore scandal broke at Michigan , it was the very last to be filled. The search lasted so long that James Franklin, the coach Penn State abruptly fired after 12-plus seasons and 104 wins, found his next job at Virginia Tech three full weeks before Campbell was introduced in State College. The 58-day saga included tens of millions in contract extension money for potential external candidates, a recruiting class that in large part followed Franklin to Blacksburg, the leaking of a secret audio recording of Kraft airing grievances, and the CEO of Crumbl cookies taking an interest. ESPN spoke with sources in and around the Penn State search to assess what happened behind the scenes and why two sides seemingly meant for each other took so long to come together. PENN STATE'S DECISION to fire Franklin on Oct. 12 rattled the college football world. Only 277 days earlier, Franklin had coached Penn State in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Orange Bowl, which the Nittany Lions led midway through the fourth quarter before falling 27-24 to Notre Dame. Quarterback Drew Allar and many of Penn State's top players had returned. The team made significant investments in the roster and the coaching staff, where Franklin plucked defensive coordinator Jim Knowles from national champion Ohio State. Penn State debuted at No. 2 in the AP Top 25, its highest preseason ranking in 28 years. But the team looked sluggish in nonconference play against non-Power 4 opponents Nevada, Florida International and Villanova. After a heartbreaking overtime loss to Oregon at home, losses to winless UCLA and unranked Northwestern followed. "Things really progressed poorly this year," a source familiar with the search said. "Didn't feel like they were going to get better within this year, and then didn't feel great about the future." Franklin went 4-21 at Penn State against AP top-10 opponents,...

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