For the first time in 12 years, Penn State football’s head coach at Big Ten Media Days was not James Franklin.

Matt Campbell took to the stand at the Hilton Chicago in Chicago on Tuesday to talk all things Penn State football. He spoke on Penn State’s player representatives, changes to his defensive strategy, and his decision to join the Nittany Lions as a whole as his coaching debut against Marshall gets closer and closer.

On Anthony Donkoh, Rocco Becht & Tony Rojas

Each Big Ten team brought three of its best players and most important leaders to Big Ten Media Days to speak to the media and offer some fresh perspectives. Campbell and Co. elected to bring Penn State returners Anthony Donkoh and Tony Rojas in addition to former Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht.

Donkoh was the first Penn State player from the Franklin era who decided to return to the program once Campbell was hired, and it started a domino effect for key players to make the same decision. Campbell said Becht is the winningest quarterback heading into college football in 2026 and that he deserves the chance to be great.

Campbell’s most extensive thoughts went to Rojas, however. Rojas suffered a season-ending injury after Penn State’s loss to Oregon in 2025. Campbell has had less tape to watch on him compared to players like Donkoh, but he realized his value to the locker room.

“Tony’s ability to battle back, his work ethic back through hard, his ability to be talented and excellent on and off the field continues to be a guiding light in our football program,” Campbell said.

“We get an opportunity of a lifetime at one of the greatest football traditions to continue to move forward. With a team of young men just like this, we get the opportunity to pursue success with honor every single day within our football program.”

On D’Anton Lynn & Defensive Strategy

Campbell has spoken extensively since arriving on campus about the choice to roll with former UCLA and USC defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn as his defensive coordinator in Happy Valley. Lynn knows the Big Ten and knows what it’s like and what it means to suit up for the Nittany Lions on Saturdays.

Different coaches and situations also harbor different changes. Campbell ran a 3-3-5 defense at Iowa State, but he and Lynn are gearing towards a four-down line despite Campbell’s previous success at Iowa State.

Campbell stuck to a four-down line through his Toledo tenure and through his first two years at Iowa State, but the Big 12’s evolution from an air-raid system to pro-style offenses made him work backward into four-down or three-four formations. The Big Ten provides a number of different challenges, and Campbell doesn’t want to be caught on the back foot.

“The ability to have multiplicity in what we do defensively is certainly critical, but maybe coming from it with more of a four-down front. But I still think those multiple variables are huge,” Campbell said.

It also helps that Tyson Veidt and Deon Broomfield joined Campbell from Iowa State to make the transition as seamless as possible while maintaining the defense’s multiplicity and identity.

On Accepting The Penn State Job

Campbell declined the opportunity to coach the Detroit Lions in 2021, and while there are conflicting reports of what actually happened, he cleared the air at Big Ten Media Days.

If Campbell were to move on from Iowa State, he needed it to be a college football program that fit his belief in culture and what it means to build a team. He not only admires Penn State’s history, but how it’s built itself and carried itself as one of college football’s premier institutions.

Campbell is still extremely proud of what he built at Iowa State in the time he had. The Lions job just wasn’t the right fit. But Penn State came knocking, and it was an offer neither he nor his family felt they could refuse.

“I think for the last six months, we’ve been reminded why it was such a great fit for us at Penn State … the integrity, the character, the class. In its finest moments, what Penn State football has stood for really resonated with myself and certainly my background,” Campbell said. “It really had to be a perfect fit and that’s really why.”