What should Matt Campbell’s first moves be?

[Bison13]

I was perusing this short video to spot any XXXL linemen on both sides of the ball. There are some road graders at ISU. Get them on weights and plyometrics and they'll be ready to go for 2026.

His defensive tackles are young so yes, I definitely want him to bring at least two of those guys. His middle linebacker and then the kid that plays the third safety/weak side linebacker is also pretty good. I would like to get those four kids. I know that one of his corners just entered the portal so I would assume it’s likely he makes his way over.

 

[LudicrousSpeedGO!]

His defensive tackles are young so yes, I definitely want him to bring at least two of those guys. His middle linebacker and then the kid that plays there third safety/week side linebacker is also pretty good. I would like to get those four kids. I know that one of his corners just entered the portal so I would assume it’s likely he makes his way over.

From others' assessments, their DL and LBs were a strength and their run d was in the upper third of their conference (better than ours). And most of those guys have eligibility left. In fact, most of their 2nd string DL were freshmen and a starting DT was a soph. There may be something there to work with although they were going up against B12 OLs.

 

[GregInPitt]

possible-transfers-5-iowa-state-players-who-could-follow-coach-matt-campbell-to-psu

The Iowa St roster to look at these players...

https://cyclones.com/sports/football/roster

The article only mentioned QB, RB, WR and TE.

For me, maybe a QB, but if he brings a QB in that QB has to be clearly better than Grunk which his returning 3 year starter Becht likely is.

If Rappleyea stays PSU will have an all B10 TE. Same with Reynolds, but Rappleyea seems to have passed Reynolds on the depth chart the last few games. Why we don't know. Blocking or maybe Reynolds was slightly injured.

At RB I'd like to see at least 2 or 3 of the 5 potential RB's return. Martin, Wallace, Smith, Coleman and Hayes. look like a very talented group of basically solid 4 star talent. Sure ISt had a couple RB that produced but they likely are not as talented as any of the PSU 5 none of whom got a real chance to show what they can do due to the quest for PSU records that the PSU coaches pursued for Allen and Singleton.

WR is another issue. I look at it as we don't really know what the PSU WR's behind the 3 portal WR's can do, other than Howard showing he can be at least a solid B10 WR if he stays. Denmark, Gonzalez, Brown, Outen, Samuel, and Exinor were all looked at as talented WR's as recruits. But the new coach will only have the bowl practices to evaluate them and determine the scope of need for incoming portal WR's before the transfer portal opens in early January. So Campbell will likely try and bring his best WR's to PSU. JMO

Article forgot or chose not to look at OL where PSU could lose every one of the 5 starters from 2025. Getting a quality starter with experience at OL from ISt would be a plus for that rebuild even if that "starter's" upside is not as high as the young PSU linemen as experience can goe a long way on the OL and the only returning olinemen with experience are Cousins and Shanahan (assuming Loane and Donkoh move on).

I'd like to see an article on what Iowa St has for potential transfer talent on Defense, as PSU could have a much greater need for depth and rotational players on defense where consistently playing multiple players at DE and DT, and sometimes at CB and LB, is necessary.

 

[GregInPitt]

On the subject of "moves" for the new coach, Campbell, it seems that maybe the most important of his near term activites is solidifying PSU going to a bowl game. My reasoning is that the team gets a good number of practice time in bowl preparation and Campbell and whatever part of his staff that is in place for those practices can and will use them to determine who from this year's team is all in for 2026 and also the player needs from the transfer portal. It's also likely that after the dust settles somewhat in the next week or so that Campbell will know which PSU players are definitely leaving and which one's are maybe on the fence. I'm hoping that Terry Smith's committement to stay and be part of the new staff will minimize the exodus but Campbell obviously needs to get a handle on what the returning player roster for 2026 will be. Maybe he can address this somewhat during the late signing period for high school players in February but realistically there are likely very few of the high talent 2026 class high school players that could impact the 2026 season unsigned at this point.

 

[bdroc]

possible-transfers-5-iowa-state-players-who-could-follow-coach-matt-campbell-to-psu

I'm not sure which of those kids we really want.

QB Becht might not be better than Grunk who we could lose.
RB Hansen might be a good get but we might want to protect Wallace & Martin
WR Sowell would be a good pickup
TE Brahmer isn't needed if we can keep Reynolds & Rapp

Out of those 5 I'd only be excited about Hansen & Sowell. I'd focus more on retaining current players and adding a LB and DT.

 

[bdroc]

On the subject of "moves" for the new coach, Campbell, it seems that maybe the most important of his near term activites is solidifying PSU going to a bowl game. My reasoning is that the team gets a good number of practice time in bowl preparation and Campbell and whatever part of his staff that is in place for those practices can and will use them to determine who from this year's team is all in for 2026 and also the player needs from the transfer portal. It's also likely that after the dust settles somewhat in the next week or so that Campbell will know which PSU players are definitely leaving and which one's are maybe on the fence. I'm hoping that Terry Smith's committement to stay and be part of the new staff will minimize the exodus but Campbell obviously needs to get a handle on what the returning player roster for 2026 will be. Maybe he can address this somewhat during the late signing period for high school players in February but realistically there are likely very few of the high talent 2026 class high school players that could impact the 2026 season unsigned at this point.

The question is if bowl game prep takes time away from player retention & recruiting.

 

[GregInPitt]

The question is if bowl game prep takes time away from player retention & recruiting.

I don't see why it would with today's expansive coaching and support staffs that Campbell will get a good start at assembling in the next couple weeks. Terry Smith would seem to be the point man on player retention, along with Campbell having individual meetings with each player ASAP.

If Terry Smith can work some magic the roster still be pretty well stocked at CB, DE and DT where PSU did have a good many young players get experience and perform well this season on defense. And at TE and RB on offense. a little more depth needed at DT and maybe DE and definitely at LB.

OL looks like a crap shoot to me, as there are a very good number of young olinemen that haven't played much but should be ready after being developed by Trautwein the past couple years. Keeping at least two-thirds of Goodman, Shanahan, Cousins, Alicine, Boyer, Sexton, Brewer, Onoh, Harbour and Williams would go a long way to fielding a young but talented OL in 2026, especially with some help from the portal.

WR is what it is until PSU can bring in one or two real playmakers or some emerge from among the young returners such as Howard.

 

[Frank Lee]

I'm not sure which of those kids we really want.

QB Becht might not be better than Grunk who we could lose.
RB Hansen might be a good get but we might want to protect Wallace & Martin
WR Sowell would be a good pickup
TE Brahmer isn't needed if we can keep Reynolds & Rapp

Out of those 5 I'd only be excited about Hansen & Sowell. I'd focus more on retaining current players and adding a LB and DT.

Maybe two each at DT and OL. And if you throw in their best LB, then you've got a deal.

 

[marylovesthelions]

I say #1 is find a way to keep Terry Smith - make him Associate HC or whatever title he wants plus a hefty raise. Keep Terry and you may keep the locker room.

#2 is to recruit your own guys. Gotta retain as much of the young talent as possible

#3 - start planning to spend all that NIL money Kraft talked about in the interview on the transfer portal. With no 2026 recruiting class and many probable transfers we’re going to need a lot of new guys.

#4 what to do with AK and JK? I’d keep Knowles and remove Andy. PSU needs a new Offensive identity.

Knowles lost big games from ahead. He STINKS.

 

[Pennstate_one]

First moves are nothing fancy and rather simple. Keep the roster (as many as possible), fix the offense and defense, get NIL aligned, and let the players know someone is finally running the place with a real plan.

Make Terry the recruiting czar or something for real...

 

[Sheriff Coffee]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1997491250027500025