Penn State didn’t just hire Matt Campbell and ask him to start over from scratch. They brought him in and immediately rebuilt the program around what he already knew.

He didn’t come alone. His offensive coordinator, offensive line coach, and secondary coach followed him. So did his quarterback, his starting running back, his top two receivers, his tight end, and a core of veteran defenders. By the time the transfer portal cycle settled, 24 former Iowa State players were on Penn State’s roster.

In other words, this isn’t a typical coaching change. It’s a familiar system, a familiar staff, and a familiar group of players — all dropped into a new place.

That matters in Happy Valley, where patience is never in abundance. James Franklin won a lot of games. That includes a Big Ten title and a trip to the College Football Playoff, but it still wasn’t enough to survive a 3-3 start last season. The message from athletic director Pat Kraft was clear: Penn State wasn’t looking to stay steady. They aren't just looking to break through.

Campbell was hired to be the one who finally gets them there.

The timing, though, made things complicated. Penn State entered 2025 ranked No. 2, collapsed early, lost their coach and starting quarterback, and watched more than 40 players enter the transfer portal. By the time the dust settled, Terry Smith had stabilized things enough to finish 7-6 with a bowl win — but the roster Campbell inherited was still in pieces while he was trying to build it back up.

Most new coaches in that situation talk about patience and long timelines. Campbell took a different approach. He brought familiarity.

That doesn’t guarantee Penn State will be ready to contend right away. But it does mean they won’t be starting from zero when the season begins.

Penn State Didn't Hire One Man

The easiest way to misunderstand Penn State’s offseason is to look at all the Iowa State transfers and just lump them together like it’s one big “Campbell package deal.” It’s not really that simple, and honestly, it’s not how this thing is going to work once the season actually starts.

Some of these guys are going to walk in and play right away. Others are going to be important depth pieces who you don’t think much about in August but suddenly matter in November when injuries pile up. A few are developmental guys Campbell clearly still believes in long-term, even if they’re not ready to be every-week contributors yet. And yeah, there are probably a couple who won’t see much of the field at all this year. That’s just how roster turnover works, even when it comes in a wave like this.

The number 24 gets thrown around a lot because having that many kids follow you sounds wild — and it is kind of wild. It’s not normal to see that many players follow a coach from one Power Four program to another. But the real story isn’t the number. It’s that the value is concentrated in a smaller group of guys who can actually carry what Campbell is trying to build onto the field on Saturdays.

Rocco Becht is the obvious headliner there. But it’s not just him. Benjamin Brahmer, Carson Hansen, Chase Sowell, Brett Eskildsen, Caleb Bacon, Marcus Neal Jr., Jamison Patton, Jeremiah Cooper, and Trevor Buhr are the names that make this feel like more than just Campbell grabbing whoever he could from his old roster and calling it a day.

These are real, proven college football players. A handful of them were legitimately some of Iowa State’s best guys last season. Others have just been in that program long enough to understand what Campbell expects every single day — how you practice, how you prepare, and what it actually looks like when nobody’s watching. The standard still has to be the standard.

The Familiarity Engine Behind The Move

The coaching staff is really what makes this whole thing feel connected instead of chaotic.

Taylor Mouser has been with Campbell for a decade at Iowa State and was his offensive coordinator the last two years. Ryan Clanton was there for three seasons coaching the offensive line and helped bump Iowa State’s rushing numbers from 108 yards per game before he got there to 174.5 in 2025. Deon Broomfield came over after coaching the Cyclones’ secondary, and Tyson Veidt — who had already spent eight years in Ames — ended up back with Campbell after a short stop at Cincinnati.

Penn State did keep some important continuity too. Terry Smith, D’Anton Lynn, and a few others stayed in place and know the roster, the building, and the expectations that come with it. So Campbell didn’t just copy-paste Iowa State and call it a day. He kind of built a middle ground — something that feels familiar enough to function, but still fits Penn State.

Penn State didn’t need to become Iowa State in navy and white. They just needed enough of that Iowa State structure in the building so things don’t fall apart while everything else adjusts. Enough stability to keep the floor from dropping out.

You’re going to see that familiarity show up first on offense. Mouser already knows Becht’s game inside and out — what he’s good at, where he gets a little impatient, and the throws he trusts when things get tight. Clanton already knows what Hansen can handle in the run game and what the offensive line is comfortable doing. Brahmer has been in Mouser’s system long enough to understand how he creates space for tight ends. Sowell and Eskildsen already know the route concepts and the timing.

So these guys aren’t showing up in August trying to decode a brand-new playbook while 100,000 people are screaming at them. That alone doesn’t sound flashy, but it’s a big deal. Maybe even the biggest advantage Penn State has right now.

Because first-year offenses usually burn a ton of time just getting on the same page. The quarterback sees one thing, the receiver sees something else, the protection slides a half-second late, and suddenly the whole play just kind of falls apart. Then everyone jogs back to the huddle looking confused and frustrated. Penn State should have way less of that, because the people running the offense already speak the same language.

Brahmer is a perfect example. He led Iowa State with 37 catches, six touchdowns, and 446 yards last season, and he did it while becoming a Mackey Award semifinalist. At 6-foot-7, he’s basically a built-in mismatch, and more importantly, he already knows exactly where Becht wants the ball to be.

And Penn State still has Andrew Rappleyea, who caught 20 passes for 180 yards and scored in each of the final three games last season. Mouser has always liked using tight ends creatively, and now he actually has two of them he can trust instead of trying to patch the position together.

Hansen gives the same kind of head start in the backfield. He ran for 952 yards in 11 games last season and averaged just under 100 yards per game in Big 12 play.

Then you add James Peoples from Ohio State, and suddenly Hansen isn’t carrying the entire load left behind by Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. The room doesn’t have the same star power Penn State fans are used to, but it does have a real lead back, a solid second option, and a coordinator who just spent last season stringing together seven straight games of 150+ rushing yards at Iowa State.

Receiver is a little more unsettled, but Campbell didn’t leave that completely bare either.

Eskildsen led Iowa State with 526 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 17.5 yards per catch. Sowell added 500 yards, 15.6 per catch, and six catches of 30+ yards. Neither one is walking into Penn State as a guaranteed Big Ten breakout star, but both of them give Becht two receivers he already trusts in a room that otherwise doesn’t have much proven production.

Koby Howard is probably the most interesting holdover after averaging 19.1 yards per catch on just seven receptions as a freshman, but seven catches is still a tiny sample. Penn State is going to need those Iowa State receivers to be more than just familiar faces — they might actually have to be real difference-makers.

And that’s where this whole Iowa State core becomes both helpful and a little bit of a warning sign. Campbell brought in players who can help Penn State function right away, which is huge. But he didn’t bring a roster full of future NFL stars either.

There’s a difference.

The Defense Still Belongs In Two Worlds

The defensive guys he brought over make the same point, just in a different way.

Caleb Bacon was an All-Big 12 honorable mention linebacker after putting up 68 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, and a team-high three sacks in 2025. Marcus Neal Jr. tied for the team lead with 77 tackles, led Iowa State with 11 tackles for loss, and even chipped in two interceptions. Jamison Patton added 48 tackles and two picks in nine starts before an injury cut his season short.

Jeremiah Cooper is the veteran of the group with 36 career starts, eight interceptions, and 22 pass breakups, even if he’s coming off a knee injury that limited him to just four games.

None of these guys are just “depth pieces.” They’re real, proven college players. And more than that, they’re steady, grown-up football players — the kind you lean on when you’re trying to create chemistry on the fly.

Because Penn State still has plenty of their own guys in that same mix.

Tony Rojas is back after his 2025 season got cut short, but before the injury he was already flashing with 25 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, and two sacks in just four games. Daryus Dixson played all 13 games as a true freshman and broke up six passes, which isn't nothing for a first-year corner. Yvan Kemajou started to come on late in the year too, enough that Campbell was already talking him up in spring ball like a guy ready to take a jump.

Up front, Anthony Donkoh already has 21 starts under his belt over the last two seasons, and Cooper Cousins has been in the rotation since he was a freshman. These aren’t placeholders or guys just waiting for the Iowa State transfers to take their jobs.

And that’s really the balance here. The Iowa State guys know exactly what Campbell expects. They’ve lived it. They’ve been coached by it. They’ve played in it.

But the Penn State guys? They’re the ones who are going to decide how high this thing actually goes.

Rocco Becht Is The Fast-Forward Button

Every part of this transition gets a little easier because Campbell didn’t just bring a system with him — he brought his quarterback too.

Now, that doesn’t mean Rocco Becht is automatically an upgrade over Drew Allar. That’s not really the point, and it’s not that simple anyway. Becht is just a different type of quarterback. He’s not the flashy, “wow” arm talent guy people love to hype up. He’s more steady than spectacular, and honestly, probably more useful for this kind of rebuild than people will give him credit for at first glance.

He’s been through a lot of college football already. 39 starts, a 26–13 record, over 9,000 passing yards, 64 passing touchdowns, and another 19 on the ground. That’s real experience. He’s also had his fair share of late-game moments, including seven fourth-quarter game-winning drives and a ridiculous 23-of-30 mark on fourth-down throws. .

His best year came in 2024, when everything just clicked. He threw for 3,505 yards and 25 touchdowns, led Iowa State to an 11–3 season, a Big 12 titl game appearance, and capped it off with a one-point bowl win over Miami. That was the version of Becht that made everything run on time and made Iowa State feel like a team nobody wanted to deal with late in games.

Then 2025 hit, and it got messy.

The numbers dipped — 2,584 yards, 16 touchdowns, nine interceptions — and Iowa State went from 5–0 to finishing 8–4 after a four-game skid. On paper, it looked like regression. But once you dig in, it’s a lot more complicated than that. Becht was dealing with a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder, and later an AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder. In other words, he wasn’t really himself for a good chunk of the season.

He had surgery in December and spent the spring getting back to normal instead of just stacking reps like everyone else.

So yeah, that makes 2025 harder to judge. And it also makes 2026 way more important.

Because Penn State doesn’t need him to turn into a top-five NFL draft pick or carry the offense on his back every week. That’s not the assignment. They need the version of Becht that ran the 2024 Iowa State offense — the one who stayed calm under pressure, didn’t panic late, and just kept the team in position to win games. They need him to walk into a new system and make it feel like he’s already been there for a year.

And that’s the part you can’t really fake. That kind of familiarity matters.

Becht can correct a receiver before Mouser even has to step in. He can handle protections in the huddle without everything turning into a sideline conversation. He can also be the guy younger quarterbacks watch and think, “oh, that’s what Campbell means when he says slow and right.” That’s not flashy, but it saves you a ton of headaches over the course of a season.

Even in the spring, when he wasn’t fully cleared, Campbell kept pointing out how valuable it was just having him on the field. Not even throwing every rep — just being there, seeing things, talking through reads, helping the room stay on the same page. That stuff doesn’t show up on Saturdays, but it absolutely shows up in September when things are moving fast.

At the same time, you can’t overdo the “familiarity equals success” thing either.

Becht’s career completion rate sits at 60.7 percent. His 2025 offense averaged 27.4 points and just under 400 yards per game. That’s solid. It’s functional. But it’s not scaring Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan, or anyone else in that tier. It’s just not.

Even Iowa State’s best version of this offense under Mouser — the 2024 group — topped out at 31.1 points per game, and that team still had to grind out a lot of close wins to get to 11 victories. Nothing about it was easy.

So no, Penn State can’t just “run it back” and assume everything gets better because the logo changed.

The Big Ten is a different animal. The fronts are bigger, the windows are tighter, and the margin for error shrinks fast. A receiver who was comfortable in Ames is going to find out real quick that Big Ten corners don’t care how long you’ve been running the same route with the same quarterback. If you’re late, you’re late.

Becht can smooth some of that over. He can shorten the learning curve. But he can’t erase the jump in competition, and he can’t turn every familiar piece into an all-conference player overnight.

That’s why the guys around him matter just as much.

Rappleyea gives Mouser another real weapon to play with. Donkoh can settle into being the anchor up front with all five line spots still technically up for grabs. Koby Howard brings some explosiveness that the imported receiver group might not fully have yet. And Peoples helps keep the run game from leaning too heavily on Hansen.

If those guys take steps forward, Becht isn’t just running “the Iowa State offense” anymore — he’s running a better version of it, with better pieces around him.

If they don’t, Penn State might end up looking organized without actually being all that dangerous. And while that’s still an improvement over last year’s chaos, it’s not where this program expects to be.

The Question Is Whether Iowa State Scales

Campbell’s run at Iowa State was honestly pretty remarkable when you think about where that program had been for most of its history. They just didn’t really do what they started doing under him.

He became the winningest coach in school history, which already says a lot, but it goes deeper than that. He was responsible for eight of their nine winning conference seasons in the Big 12 era. Under his watch, Iowa State cracked the AP top 15 twice, won the Big 12 regular season in 2020 and again in 2024, and even set a program record with 11 wins in that 2024 season.

And maybe the biggest shift of all is the mindset change. This was a program that used to just kind of hope to be relevant every now and then. By the time he was done, they weren’t hoping anymore—they expected to matter.

Penn State hired him to answer a very different question.

Can the same process still win when you’re no longer building from scratch, but stepping into a place where “relevance” is just the baseline expectation?

Nobody in Happy Valley is celebrating nine wins. Franklin already proved Penn State can recruit NFL talent, stack double-digit seasons, and hang around the top of the rankings. The issue was always what came next. The season would roll along just fine… until it hit that one game where “pretty good” stopped being enough.

Campbell’s first roster actually gives him a better shot at avoiding the usual Year 1 excuses. But it also takes away some of the safety net those excuses normally provide.

He’s got his quarterback. His coordinator. His running back, tight end, receivers, and a defense full of guys who already understand what the standard is supposed to feel like. He brought enough of that Iowa State core with him to raise the floor, but Penn State still has its own talent baked in. And the schedule? It’s not a gauntlet right away, which matters more than people admit.

Penn State opens with Marshall, Temple, and Buffalo. The first two conference games are Wisconsin at home and Northwestern on the road. Then comes USC at Beaver Stadium on Oct. 10, a trip to Michigan, and a bye week before the final stretch.

They don’t see Ohio State, Oregon, or Indiana. The closing run is Purdue, Washington, Minnesota, Rutgers, and Maryland.

That’s not a free pass to the playoff, but it is a schedule that lets a new staff breathe a little.

Michigan on the road is a real test. USC has enough talent to flip a season on its head. Washington is a long trip with real stakes. And Northwestern is exactly the kind of game that can get weird if you’re still figuring things out.

Still, this is about as good as it gets for a transition year in the Big Ten.

Those first three games should help Becht settle in, let the offensive line find its rhythm, and give the defense time to actually learn what Jim Knowles’ system looks like with this personnel. Wisconsin and Northwestern will show pretty quickly whether Penn State can handle Big Ten football without needing a top-five opponent to expose them.

By the time USC and Michigan show up, there shouldn’t be much mystery left about what this team is.

Nine wins feels like the baseline. Ten is on the table if the offensive line clicks and Becht looks closer to his 2024 version than the banged-up quarterback we saw last fall. Anything beyond that and you’re talking about a rebuild that moved faster than anyone reasonably expected.

Seven or eight wins, though, would feel different.

Not in a “fire the coach” way. But in a “okay, what exactly are we doing here?” kind of way. Because then you start asking how much of this roster was built to smooth the transition versus how much was built to actually win at Penn State’s level.

Is The Familiarity An Advantage Or A Ceiling

Familiarity is great when it helps good players play faster. It becomes a problem when it turns into comfort instead of upside.

That’s the tightrope Campbell is walking.

Brahmer, Hansen, Bacon, Neal, and the rest of that Iowa State group don’t need to apologize for anything. They earned their production. They helped build the best run in program history in Ames. And a lot of them are going to be key players in Happy Valley this year.

But they also can’t be the whole identity.

The best version of this team doesn’t look like Iowa State East. It looks like a blend. Campbell’s structure, Mouser’s offense, and Becht’s command mixed with the size, speed, recruiting base, and leftover talent that already existed at Penn State.

It’s Rojas becoming the best linebacker on a defense that Bacon helps steady. It’s Howard getting more dangerous because Sowell and Eskildsen already know where they’re supposed to be. It’s Donkoh and Cousins turning Clanton’s run game into something heavier than what he had in Ames. It’s Rappleyea and Brahmer forcing defenses into constant guessing games at tight end.

That’s how the Iowa State core becomes a foundation instead of a ceiling.

Campbell has spent his whole career proving he can build more with less. Penn State hired him because they believe he can build more with more.

This season won’t fully answer whether he can win a national title there. First years never really do, even when half the roster already knows the system. Injuries will hit. Young players will make mistakes. There are still real questions at receiver, along the offensive line, and on the defensive front. And Becht’s durability is still a real concern after last year.

But Penn State shouldn’t need until November to look like a team that knows what it is. That’s the advantage of all this continuity.

Campbell didn’t walk into a finished product. But he also didn’t walk into chaos. He made sure Year 1 wouldn’t be spent teaching everyone how to function.

He brought the quarterback who already speaks the language, the players who already know the standard, and the coaches who already know how the machine is supposed to run. Then he dropped all of that into a Penn State roster with enough talent — and a schedule forgiving enough — to make it matter right away.

The floor should be higher because of Iowa State. The real question is whether Penn State can raise the ceiling too.

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