Matt Campbell is set to take over as the next head coach of the Penn State football team. Here is why I think this is a horrible move.
Campbells record as the head coach for the cyclones is 70-55. At 70 wins he is the winningest coach in school history. At Iowa state the expectations are not national championship, their expectation is a winning season and being competitive in the big 12. In the current state of college football there seems to be zero job security and yet he has found himself in such a secure position with the Cyclones. It seems extremely foolish to leave a program in a power conference making 5 million a year where there is no outlandish expectation and the community completely has your back win or lose.
Penn State just fired James Franklin after going 104-45 during his tenure as the Penn State head coach. This puts his at 34 more wins and 10 less losses compared to Campbells ISU record. On top of that Penn State was in the final four of the college football playoffs last year. Campbell will now be stepping into a program/state that has clear expectations of you either win or you are out. While he will surely be making more money, he will be coaching for his job every game. This state is known for rowdy and unforgiving fans, just about the complete opposite of Iowa states fan base.
The BIG10 is a complete different breed from the BIG12. The BIG10 every year has a clear national championship contender and multiple top 5 teams. This is a huge step up from the BIG12. He will now every year have to play a top contender and expect to win. Franklin was ostracized for not beating Ohio state. Campbell went 5 straight years without beating their IN STATE rival the University of Iowa and still had complete job security.
Lastly he will be talking over a program that is the 2nd lowest power four in recruiting rankings. He will be signing this new deal after national signing day and completely behind the 8 ball. He has built a steady stream of recruits and NFL talent at Iowa State. Now leaving that he is going to be working double time just to try and keep up with his now BIG10 foes who already have powerhouse teams and recruits.
For these reasons I believe Matt Campbell should’ve looked across the state and followed the same path as Ferentz. Be competitive, make millions, and be happy.