Following a 54-day search, the wait is almost over, folks.

Penn State football is “working to finalize a deal” to hire Iowa State’s Matt Campbell as its next head coach, per On3’s Pete Nakos.

BREAKING: Penn State is working to finalize a deal to hire Iowa State's Matt Campbell, @PeteNakos reportshttps://t.co/3Vkm7MCpwx pic.twitter.com/8LGM9en5gs

— On3 (@On3sports) December 5, 2025

After almost two disastrous months spearheading Penn State’s head coaching search, Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Pat Kraft finally has his guy. On3’s Pete Nakos, Chris Low, and Brett McMurphy first reported Penn State was narrowing its search on Campbell Thursday night. After the Kalani Sitake debacle at the start of the week, Campbell appears on his way to Happy Valley after 10 seasons at the helm of the Cyclones.

Campbell is the winningest coach in Iowa State history and completely reinvigorated an aimless Cyclone program. In his second season in 2017, he led the program to its first winning record since 2009. He’s coached the Cyclones to seven of their eight winning seasons in Big 12 history.

Iowa State has appeared in the AP Poll in six of the last seven years and spent six weeks in the top 20 of the College Football Playoff rankings in 2024 under Campbell. The Cyclones finished their only double-digit win season with a 42-41 Pop Tarts Bowl win over No. 13 Miami.

This season, Campbell led Iowa State to an 8-4 record and its third-straight season with bowl eligibility. The Cyclones defeated in-state rival Iowa 16-13 in week two. Penn State did not beat the Hawkeyes this season, and are 1-3 in its last 4 games against the Big Ten foe.

Campbell has won three Big 12 Coach of the Year awards. His 2022 recruiting class also finished in the top 25 on both 247Sports and Rivals. Iowa State has produced 25 NFL Draft picks under Campbell, with notable selections such as San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy and New York Jets duo Will McDonald IV and Breece Hall.

Campbell played his college ball at Division III Mount Union. He won three national championships and four Ohio Athletic Conference championships as an All-American and two-time conference defensive lineman of the year. He was inducted into his alma mater’s hall of fame in 2018.

After his playing days, Campbell made his first coaching stop as a graduate assistant at Bowling Green from 2003 to 2004. He swiftly departed for the offensive coordinator job at his alma mater, where he won two more conference championships in 2005 and 2006. Campbell returned to Bowling Green as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator from 2007 to 2008, where he won a MAC East title.

The Massillon, Ohio, native made the quick 30-minute drive up I-35 for the same position at Toledo. He was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2009 and landed his first head coaching gig for the Rockets from 2012 to 2015. Campbell led Toledo to back-to-back MAC West titles in his final two seasons. He was named MAC Coach of the Year in 2015.

Campbell took the Iowa State job on November 29, 2015, and has solidified himself as one of college football’s premier culture-builders. He is now on the verge of taking his biggest career jump to Happy Valley, barring a last-minute fall-through like Sitake.

Campbell will look to right the ship after a disastrous 2025 Penn State season.