Penn State Shifts Focus to Big 12 Coach as Talks Begin: R...

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By Nelson Espinal

Contributing Sports Reporter

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The Penn State Nittany Lions are moving on after being rejected by BYU's Kalani Sitake, who re-signed with his current program rather than engaging in talks.

Now, Penn State is reportedly targeting Iowa State's Matt Campbell, one of the more renowned coaches in the Big 12 during his 11 seasons with the Cyclones.

In addition to Sitake, Louisville Jeff Brohm decided to stay with the Cardinals rather than entertain Penn State, forcing the Nittany Lions down the list of potential candidates.

Among those other candidates is interim head coach Terry Smith, who helped stabilize a floundering team that reached bowl eligibility and won its last three regular-season games.

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Per Pete Nakos of On3, the donors within the Penn State program have been pushing for Smith to get the job due to his coaching performance and his ability to sign former Auburn commit Peyton Falzone during National Signing Day.

More news: BYU’s Kalani Sitake Has Decided His Future Amid Penn State Interest: Report

While Smith seemed to have the moment on Wednesday, by Thursday, Campbell is believed to be the focus of the coaching search.

"But Campbell has re-emerged as a name to know and the new focus of the Penn State search over the last 24 hours. He was a name mentioned initially at the beginning of the Nittany Lions’ coaching search," Nakos wrote in his breaking story on Campbell's candidacy.

Penn State's job still being open is one of the more shocking developments of the 2025 coaching carousel. Between the former head coach James Franklin's firing and conference championship week, Florida, LSU, Arkansas, Auburn, and Kentucky have all hired new coaches, while Franklin himself landed at Virginia Tech.

Penn State is one of the "Blue Blood" programs, meant to be at the top of college football and to compete for national championships consistently.

They received a ton of investment in NIL signings and have a strong pipeline across America that tends to net them top talent locally and nationwide.

Eventually, Penn State will name a full-time head coach, but whoever is hired will be on the back foot, as National Signing Day has already passed, and there will be only a handful of assistant coaches who could reasonably be acquired to fill out the staff.

More news: BYU’s Kalani Sitake Breaks Silence After Turning Down Penn State Job

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