Taylor Mouser was working at Little Ceasars before landing his first coaching gig as a graduate assistant on Matt Campbell’s 2015 Toledo staff. Mouser has since followed Campbell to each and every single one of his coaching stops in a variety of roles, from assistant scouting director to quality control to tight ends coach.

“If he called me and told me he was going back to Mount Union, I would have went with him to Mount Union. What that guy has done for me in my life, I’d still be at Little Caesars if it wasn’t for coach Campbell, and I don’t forget that,” Mouser said Wednesday.

Mouser now has what he describes as a “dream job”: Penn State’s offensive coordinator and tight ends coach. He understands all of the tight end history that Penn State holds and is looking forward to contributing to it. Mouser is ready for the jump up to one of college football’s most prestigious programs.

“Penn State’s a brand that you want to have on that stage. You have to understand that,” Mouser said. “And at Iowa State, we got to the point there where we weren’t the underdog anymore with people. Everybody was trying to kill us every single week, and I fully anticipate that everyone’s going to try and run up the score and beat our brains in every single week. And we’re going to prepare like that.”

The last two months haven’t been a whirlwind for only Campbell, but just about every other coach on his staff. Mouser himself has stayed with quarterbacks coach Jake Waters and wide receivers coach Noah Pauley in an Airbnb for the last few months. Wednesday night was their last night staying together, as Mouser has his family settling into State College.

Even with being on the road constantly for recruiting, Mouser had the chance to enjoy Penn State men’s hockey’s outdoor Beaver Stadium game on Saturday alongside offensive line coach Ryan Clanton. Fans saw the pair downing beers and having a good time. Clanton said Mouser is awesome to hang out with and is the biggest hockey fan in the state. Mouser said the experience really showed him what makes Penn State so special and just how ingrained athletics are in the whole State College community.

Despite the fun nuggets of getting on his feet at Penn State, Mouser understands that it’s all ball from here on out. Not just for him, but for his players as well.

Penn State retained tight end Andrew Rappleyea and brought in Mackey Award semifinalist Benjamin Brahmer, Cooper Alexander, and Gabe Burkle from Iowa State. After a lackluster showing from the unit in 2025, Penn State’s revamped room under Mouser has a chance to lead the offense, especially with all of the 12 and 13 personnel looks that Campbell and Co. like to run.

“Coming from Toledo, we were a 12-personnel team. We got there, we didn’t have any, there was no tight ends on the roster,” Mouser said. “We’re able to build that, and coach Campbell wants to run the football and be physical and things like that. I always felt like the tight ends are kind of like the Swiss army knife.”

However, both Rappleyea and all of the Iowa State transfers at the position are still going to have to earn reps. Their relationships don’t carry over.

“We told them, ‘We’re not at Iowa State anymore, so don’t come here and expect anything,'” Mouser said. “And we don’t here as coaches, either, and they haven’t. So they know the deal. You’re going to have to work for everything here, and we told that to the Penn State guys as well.”

As for his offensive philosophy, Mouser said he’s going to run a spread pro offense, similar to what the Los Angeles Rams and Indianapolis Colts run in the NFL. Both of those squads lean heavily on tight end play and run the ball effectively to create space for explosive plays.

Mouser said he and Campbell also pull inspiration from former Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy and what he does with the San Francisco 49ers and from Nick Sirianni’s system with the Philadelphia Eagles, who was Campbell’s roommate at Mount Union. He said they want to be able to play in multiple personnel groupings in multiple tempos.

Mouser cited Colts tight end coach Tom Manning, Washington State wide receivers coach and special teams coordinator Derek Sage, and Rams pass game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase as his biggest mentors in the coaching game.

Mouser knows how turbulent Penn State’s 2025 season was and said one of the most difficult parts of building the roster and getting to know the players was being sensitive to the Nittany Lions’ situation. He said the coaching staff had to be sensitive to the Iowa State kids as well, allowing them to voice their frustrations and listening to them.

While Mouser’s track record speaks for itself, Campbell himself explained why he is the right fit for the job and now has the reins to what should be one of the premier offenses in the Big Ten.

“I think Taylor [Mouser] has proven over his two-year period to be one of the up-and-coming bright minds in all of college football. I think he’s got a fearlessness as a play caller…It’s been awesome to be a part of his growth journey in the last two years to watch how he’s handled games,” Campbell said.