Penn State will formally introduce new head coach Matt Campbell later today, and while there is plenty to celebrate, hiring Campbell was just the first step in what will be a supremely busy offseason for the Nittany
Lions. Next on the docket for Campbell and his Penn State program: who will be on the coaching staff? There’s three main questions to ask.
- Who from Penn State’s current staff will Campbell attempt to keep?
- Who from Iowa State’s staff will Campbell want to come with him?
- Which non-Iowa State/Penn State staff members will Campbell target?
That last part is an interesting one, because although Campbell has been with many of his assistants for multiple seasons at this point, the spending calculus has changed. At Iowa State, Campbell had about $7 million in staff spending. At Penn State he will, reportedly, have around $17 million — though that includes recruiting and support staff as well.
I’d still expect a good portion of Campbell’s staff to be Penn State and Iowa State people, but his staff budget increasing that significantly means he’ll be able to “shopping” in a different tax bracket. Who is out there that Campbell would love to work with but maybe couldn’t afford at Iowa State?
That’s a question I don’t have an answer too. One question we do have an answer to though? Terry Smith will be back at Penn State. Mark Brennan of Lions247 says he’ll be the “Associate Head Coach” but his position group is TBD. Smart money is probably still on him being the cornerbacks coach, but perhaps a move to safeties or even wide receiver is possible.
Beyond Terry, no other Penn State coaches have been confirmed as staying. So let’s take a look at the Iowa State staff and see who could potentially tag along to Happy Valley with Campbell.
Taylor Mouser: Offensive Coordinator/TE Coach
Age: 34 years old
Years under Campbell: 11 years
Mouser’s been the offensive coordinator for two seasons, having held a number of different roles with the Cyclones during the Campbell tenure. With Mouser as the lead man for the offense, the unit has been, uh, ordinary? The 2024 offense finished the year ranked No. 44 in Offensive SP+ (9th in the Big 12) and the 2025 group is 62nd (11th in the Big 12) in SP+, neither being numbers that should inspire much enthusiasm for Mouser getting the OC role in Happy Valley.
This is one of those spots where Campbell will likely look to upgrade in a big way. Mouser’s salary was only $750k in 2025. The next Penn State offensive coordinator is likely making more in the $2 million range, which opens up an entirely different group of candidates than Campbell was going after at Iowa State. I won’t speculate on names, but I’d be surprised if Mouser is the OC.
What about Mouser as TE coach though? That I could see. Mouser’s done a nice job with rising senior Benjamin Brahmer, who is coming off a 37/446/6 season with the Cyclones. Of course Mouser as TE coach might be dependent upon Ty Howle. I would imagine that if Howle wants to stick around, he’ll be afforded that opportunity. He’s one of the best tight end recruiters and coaches in the country, and could be pivotal in keeping a talented tight end room from portaling out. But Howle will have options, potentially as the offensive coordinator for Virginia Tech.
Jake Waters: QB Coach
Age: 33 years old
Years under Campbell: 6 years
Well, well, well, look who it is. Penn State recruitniks will remember good ol’ Jake Waters, who SPURNED Penn State as a JUCO prospect for Kansas State, a move which forced the Nittany Lions to (essentially) start Christian Hackenberg right away.
Maybe this time Penn State will land Waters? He’s had quite the history with Campbell, being a GA for the Cyclones in 2017 and then returning to Ames in 2021 as a quality control coach where he mostly worked with the quarterbacks. He got the official “QB Coach” title in 2024, and has played a big part in Rocco Becht’s development.
Danny O’Brien projects as someone who will likely follow James Franklin to Virginia Tech, so this one makes some sense. Waters is viewed as one of the better young coaches in the sport, and while Penn State will potentially have to fend off Kansas State once again, I think there’s a good chance Waters is in Happy Valley next season.
Jake Landry: RB Coach
Age: 37 years old
Years under Campbell: 1 year
No offense to Coach Landry because he actually spent three seasons at Temple so he’s at least coached in Pennsylvania, but he doesn’t stick out to me as someone who likely comes to Penn State with Campbell. He’s only been on the staff for one season, and the vast majority of his work has been in the Midwest. This feels like an obvious spot that Campbell gets someone with stronger Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, or DMV ties. Perhaps current RB coach Stan Drayton?
Noah Pauley: WR Coach
Age: 36 years old
Years under Campbell: 3 years
Ever since Josh Gattis left after the 2017 season, wide receivers coach has been a point of consternation for Penn State fans. How about Noah Pauley, who helped get Xavier Hutchinson (6th round), Jayden Higgins (2nd round), and Jaylin Noel (3rd round) drafted in the last three drafts? Sure, former Iowa State wide receivers coach Nathan Scheelhase deserves a lot of credit there when it comes to recruiting them to Ames, but Pauley is apparently thought of highly as well. He actually interviewed for the 49ers offensive coordinator job last offseason, which I don’t know, but if Kyle Shanahan likes a college wide receivers coach enough to want to interview him for an NFL OC job, I think that speaks to Pauley’s trajectory.
Ryan Clanton: OL Coach
Age: 35 years sold
Years under Campbell: 3 years
Iowa State reporter Chris Williams shared on Twitter on Sunday that Ryan Clanton will be coming to Penn State with Campbell, which would effectively end the Phil Trautwin era at Penn State. A quick Twitter search shows that there’s smoke for Trautwein to end up at South Carolina, not Virginia Tech, for those wondering.
Clanton is an Oregon graduate who played under Chip Kelly in the early 2010s. As a coach, he spent multiple seasons with Northern Iowa where he had two OTs draft in back-to-back seasons — Spencer Brown in the 3rd round of the 2021 draft and Trevor Penning in the 1st round of the 2022 draft. He’s since been in Ames, where he just completed his third year on the staff and is viewed as one of the rising OL coaches in the game. With Campbell being a former OL coach himself, I think it’s telling that Clanton was one of the very first coaches (reportedly) confirmed to be joining him.
Plus, he looks like a badass with the beard + sleeve tat combo.
Jon Heacock: Defensive Coordinator
Age: 65 years old
Years under Campbell: 12 years
Jon Heacock was named Toledo’s defensive coordinator during Campbell’s 4th season with the program, and then Heacock followed Campbell to Iowa State where he’s served as the DC during the entire tenure in Ames. He’s one of the more respected DCs in the sport, being on the forefront of playing with 3 safeties and implementing a *3-3-5-style defense to combat the heavy-passing attacks of the Big 12.
Heacock has already been reported as coming to Happy Valley with Campbell, though title and actual role remain undefined. I know from reading around Iowa State fan sites, many expected Heacock to take a step back with the program heading into the 2026 season and become an analyst of sorts. Perhaps that’s still the move here? Penn State, obviously, paid Jim Knowles a hefty salary to come here last offseason, and he still has 2 years remaining on his contract. I wouldn’t be shocked if Knowles sticks around, provided conversations with Campbell work out.
*It’s been mentioned elsewhere, but don’t expect Penn State to go 3-3-5. Campbell had his defenses playing that out of necessity. He is much more likely to switch back to a 4-man front and go 4-2-5.
Eli Rasheed: DL Coach
Age: 53 years old
Years under Campbell: 14 years
The guy who has been with Campbell the longest is Eli Rasheed, who just completed his 14th season on Campbell’s staff. But they go back even further, with Rasheed being the on the original Tim Beckman (boo) Toledo staff in 2009 where Campbell was the OL coach. So these two have been coaching together continuously for 17 (!) seasons.
Rasheed is as solid as a DL coach gets. Iowa State has had one first round draft pick in 50 years — that was defensive end, Will McDonald IV in 2023. Rasheed also developed Eyioma Uwazurike (2021) and JaQuan Bailey (2020), both first-team All-Big 12 players with Bailey earning third-team All-American honors to boot.
The challenge for Campbell here is that Deion Barnes is quite good. The Penn State defensive line took a step back in 2025, but I don’t think there’s much doubt that Barnes is a rising star when it comes to defensive line coaches. With the way staffs have expanded in recent years, does Campbell split up responsibilities and have Barnes be the DE coach while Rasheed is the DT coach? Would that even be something both would be open to?
Colby Kratch: LB Coach
Age: 35 years old
Years under Campbell: 10 years
Beyond looking like the actor Martin Keamy, Kratch is also someone who has spent a lot of time under Campbell as well. He’s been the LBs coach for two year, but was a GA at Toledo (‘13-14) and Iowa State (’17) and also had the role of Assistant Director of Player Personnel from 2018-22. The ADPP role is an interesting one. For those familiar with Kenny Sanders and his importance, he’s been Penn State’s Director of Player Personnel, which basically means he’s a higher up when it comes to recruiting and building out the roster as a whole.
I mention Kratch’s background doing that because I think Dan Connor would be someone Matt Campbell would like to keep. Beyond being a Penn State alum and former letterman, Connor is pretty well thought of in coaching circles. And on the other end of that, I don’t know if Connor is someone who is necessarily trying to pick up and move. After his NFL playing days, he stayed local down in southeast PA for a while because he just liked coaching. From what I understand, the move to Penn State in 2022 was made with the same idea of it being a step up from Widener but also offering as a place of stability. Perhaps Connor has changed his mind and he’s ready for the full-on coaching life of moving every 2-3 seasons, but I think there’s a decent chance Connor stays in Happy Valley. And if that’s the case, maybe Kratch transitions back to a personnel role?
Deon Broomfield: Safeties Coach
Age: 34 years old
Years under Campbell: 5 years
The lone Iowa State graduate on Campbell’s staff, Broomfield has done a nice job with the safeties unit in Ames. Even when you look at their roster now, one of Penn State’s top priorities will likely be safety Marcus Neal Jr. who had 77 tackles, 11 TFLs, and 2 interceptions this past season as a sophomore. So Broomfield has done solid work getting production out of his group.
The question is two-fold:
- Being a Cyclone letterman, would Broomfield stick around Ames to be on Jimmy Rogers’ inaugural staff?
- What does Anthony Poindexter do? I would imagine he’d have first dibs on the safeties role if he wants to stay in Happy Valley, but does he opt to go to Virginia Tech? He was under consideration to be James Franklin’s DC with the Hokies, but Franklin went with none other than Brent Pry. Does that potentially sway the decision for Poindexter?
All in all, I think Penn State has two god options here.
Hank Poteat
Age: 48 years old
Years under Campbell: 3 years
We’ll see what comes of Terry Smith and what exactly he wants to do, but if for whatever reason Terry is in a role that doesn’t include coaching cornerbacks, Hank Poteat makes a ton of sense for Penn State. He helped get TJ Tampa and Darien Porter drafted during his short Iowa State tenure, and has heavy ties to the region, originally being from Harrisburg and playing at Pitt in the late 90s before a decade in the NFL as a player.
Again, I’d expect Terry to stick around at cornerback. Why mess with a good thing? But Poteat is intriguing nonetheless.
