New Penn State football head coach Matt Campbell is set to make roughly $10 million per season with the Nittany Lions, per The Inside Zone’s Matt Fotuna. The deal will last eight years.

SOURCES: Penn State and Matt Campbell have agreed to an eight-year deal to make Campbell the Nittany Lions’ next coach.

Campbell’s average annual salary is expected to more than double, from $5M per year at ISU to more than $10M per year at PSU.@JonSauber first on the hire. https://t.co/jfLDUnFpuk

— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) December 6, 2025

Campbell is joining Penn State just a few months after signing a contract extension with Iowa State in August 2025. Per ESPN, the former Cyclone head coach made around $5 million for the 2025 season, $1 million more than he made under his contract before that. The deal was in place until 2032.

It was reported that Campbell took a pay cut on the extension to make sure his staff’s salary pool increased and Iowa State could put another $1 million into revenue-sharing funds for its roster. Campbell told ESPN in July, “probably our top 20 guys took a pay cut to come back to Iowa State.”

Campbell will not have the same financial issues in Happy Valley as Fortuna also reported Penn State has promised roughly $30 million in NIL money and $17 million in staff pool. In comparison, Lane Kiffin was offered $25 million in “roster cash” when taking the LSU job.

$10 million a season lands the 46-year-old right around the No. 10 highest-paid college coach in the country. Per On3, before the 2025 season, which has seen a lot of extensions signed, only nine other coaches made over $10 million a year. This list includes Bill Belichick, Kalen DeBoer, and Dabo Swinney.

Per the Centre Daily Times, Penn State’s last coach, James Franklin, was making $6.5 million per season in supplemental pay with a base compensation of $500,000 and a $1 million life insurance loan.

Campbell’s departure from Iowa State will cost Penn State $2 million in buyout fees.