In Penn State football’s 2025 White Out game against Oregon, linebacker Tony Rojas suffered a quad contusion. He didn’t think anything too much of it at the time — the loss was the most painful part of the night. Two days later, Rojas blew his leg out on the first play of a routine Tuesday practice. He did not return for the rest of the year.

Penn State’s 2025 season going off the rails can be attributed to many things, but Rojas’s injury after the strongest start of his career was the first bump in the road on a horrific path to 6-6. Rojas described the physical and mental tax of recovery and his inability to play as the hardest portion of his career, but didn’t let the circumstances sink him into a hole he couldn’t get out of.

“I feel like it was a blessing and a curse at the same time. I feel like everything happens for a reason. That’s how I look at it. God has his plan, and I’m not going to rush anything that’s not meant to be,” Rojas said. “Obviously, it sucked, but it is what it is. I can look forward as of now.”

Two weeks after the Oregon game, Penn State lost to Northwestern at home to drop to 3-3. James Franklin was fired the next day. Rojas was a big advocate for Franklin and publicly showed his emotions toward the coach’s firing.

Once Franklin settled into his new job at the head of Virginia Tech, a plethora of Penn State players and coaches made the trip to the ACC school. Despite all of his proclamations in the moment, Rojas was not one of them.

“That was too low for me. Penn State was home no matter what,” Rojas said.

Once the Franklin ship sailed, Rojas publicly spoke in favor of Terry Smith taking over as the permanent head coach after bringing Penn State back from the brink of bowl ineligibility with three straight wins to end the season. Rojas said Smith was Matt Campbell’s most important coaching retention, which led to a slew of player retentions in return.

As for the switch to Campbell himself, Rojas said it took a bit of an adjustment. Once he talked to Campbell, though, everything clicked. Rojas’s focus turned to getting the culture rolling in the locker room and looking forward to the season. And the differences between Franklin and Campbell are already starting to show.

“He talks more than I’d say Coach Franklin did, in a good way. Builds a lot of connections and relationships with us,” Rojas said. “It’s been going well, I feel like I’m getting more comfortable with him. He was a cool person at first. He gave me a call one of the first nights he was hired, and we just had a good conversation, and it felt genuine. Nothing felt really fake and up to date, it still feels genuine … He doesn’t just talk, he acts, and he shows what he really says.”

Rojas said that Campbell has instituted “leadership groups” on the team consisting of around 20 players. Each group has two or three leaders who have to draft a team of younger players. Those teams then get points based on good things they do throughout the week and get deducted for bad things, such as skipping class. The losing team of the week has to check in at 5 a.m. on Wednesdays and clean the facility.

That practice in itself has already distanced Campbell from Franklin in Rojas’s eyes. He said Campbell is focused on holding the team accountable, which hasn’t been present in recent years. Campbell is also holding the team to higher standards in the classroom, which Rojas said the team was “lacking” under Franklin.

“Not letting anything slip compared to the past years, in a good way. I feel like he’s just more on us, whether that’s academics and whatnot. He doesn’t let anything lack,” Rojas said.

Campbell isn’t the only coach who’s made an impression on Rojas in the brevity of Penn State’s new era so far. New defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn has already emphasized that he’s going to call plays to the defense’s strengths. He said last year’s defensive install wasn’t suited to its strengths, constraining the Nittany Lions’ play and leading to those early struggles in conference play.

“I think he’s going to be great. He matches us. He’s the type of coach that [will] not just call plays that he thinks will work, but he’ll call plays that we’re best at, and not just what he thinks we’re best at, because at the end of the day, it’s the players playing,” Rojas said.

As a leader, it’s been difficult for Rojas to really establish himself alongside his teammates as he continues his rehab. He said he’s leaned heavily on some of the younger linebackers, like sophomore Alex Tatsch, to keep him in the player mindset. He has found value in viewing the game as a coach through more intensive film sessions as a way to make up for the lack of practice.

While he’s made strides in rehab, Rojas still has just a bit to go on the road to 100% recovery. He said he’ll be cleared for all football activities in the summer and into the season, but spring ball is still a toss-up.

“At first, that was the hard part for me. Just the confidence of trying to get back to where I would be. I talked to a lot of people like KJ Winston, who went through the same thing, almost at the same time as me … He’s been telling me his mindset and how he feels even better than before, and I’m starting to feel that myself. I’m going to come back stronger and faster,” Rojas said.

He said he’s far ahead in his recovery process. When he isn’t in class, he’s rehabbing. Rojas feels himself getting stronger by the week. Time will only tell if the Penn State faithful can see him hit the gridiron in April’s Blue-White Weekend.