Penn State appears to have found its new head football coach.
Matt Campbell is working toward finalizing a deal to become the new head coach at Penn State, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Friday. While there were still hurdles left to complete the deal, the two sides met in Iowa on Thursday night and negotiations were ongoing.
The sides met in Iowa on Thursday night and have been working toward an agreement since. Nothing is signed, and there’s still a few steps remaining for this to come to fruition.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 5, 2025
Campbell, 46, is in his tenth season as the head coach at Iowa State. The Cyclones went 8-4 this year, which marked the eighth time that they finished above .500 during Campbell’s tenure. Iowa State finished 11-3 last year.
Penn State has been searching for a new head coach since they fired James Franklin. It seems like they missed out on at least one of their top targets, and Campbell probably is not their first choice. He has a strong resume, however.
Prior to landing at Iowa State in 2016, Campbell was the head coach at Toledo for four-plus seasons. He had an overall record of 35-15 with the Rockets and won two bowl games.
