Penn State’s Matt Campbell targets Iowa State players, team building [opinion]

More than 4,000 NCAA Division I football players have put their names in the transfer portal since Jan. 2, a number never seen before.

At Penn State, 48 players have entered the portal or committed to new schools. Combined with 22 players from the 2025 roster who are out of eligibility or who have declared for the NFL draft, the Nittany Lions have had a staggering 70 roster spots to fill.

So it’s no surprise that new coach Matt Campbell and his staff have looked at Iowa State, where he spent the last 10 seasons, and received commitments from 21 former Cyclones with less than a week to go before the portal closes Jan. 16.

Many Penn State fans have not been impressed, pointing to Iowa State’s 8-4 record this season and asking how they’re going to fare in the Big Ten, a stronger conference than the Big 12.

Campbell seems to be following the blueprint created by Indiana’s Curt Cignetti, who added quite a few players from James Madison, his previous stop, when the Hoosiers hired him after the 2023 season and lost roughly 30 players to the portal.

That formula has worked magic for Cignetti and Indiana, which has made a remarkable turnaround and will play Miami (Fla.) for the national championship next week.

It makes sense for Campbell because he’s very familiar with the former Iowa State players, including quarterback Rocco Becht, and knows their strengths and weaknesses.

Campbell, it seems, is more interested in building a team than pursuing blue-chip prospects for the sake of recruiting rankings. That’s smart to do.

Campbell and his staff have landed only a few former four-star prospects and no five-star prospects among the 31 commitments they’ve received from transfers.

They’ve added a mix of experienced and younger players. They’ve targeted larger defensive tackles such as Keanu Williams (6-5, 320) and Siale Taupaki (6-4, 335)  from UCLA, Dallas Vakalahi (6-2, 318) from Utah and Vaea Ikakoula (6-3, 355) from Iowa State.

Penn State lacked that kind of size at that position this season and allowed 142.5 rushing yards per game, which was 10th in the Big Ten and 56th nationally.

The Lions also added three linebackers, all from Iowa State, after losing six at that position, including leading tackler Amare Campbell, who committed to Tennessee.

On offense, Penn State landed Becht and Alex Manske from Iowa State to fill the void left at quarterback by Drew Allar going to the NFL and Ethan Grunkemeyer, Jaxon Smolik and Bekkem Kritza transferring.

The Lions also received commitments from Iowa State tight ends Benjamin Brahmer, Gabe Burkle and Cooper Alexander after watching Luke Reynolds, Joey Schlaffer and Matt Henderson enter the portal. Brahmer, Burkle and Alexander will join returner Andrew Rappleyea in an offense that often uses two or three tight ends.

With all-time leading rusher Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton headed to the NFL, Carson Hansen (Iowa State) and James Peoples (Ohio State) transferred to Penn State. They will join Pinstripe Bowl star Quinton Martin Jr., Tikey Hayes and Cam Wallace, who was in the portal but who announced Saturday that he’s staying with the Lions, in a deep backfield.

Campbell and the Lions have more work to do to fill out the roster, especially at wide receiver.

Penn State landed only two high school seniors, Jackson Ford and Nazareth quarterback Peyton Falzone, on the early signing date last month. They now have 13 commitments in the 2026 recruiting class, including many who have flipped from Iowa State.

Getting players to fit the system that Campbell will run with offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser and defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn will be very important.

No one knows how Penn State will do in 2026, especially with so many roster changes across the country still to come. But so far, Campbell has done a solid job in retaining many key players and adding players at positions of need.