Just under a year ago, James Franklin was preparing the No. 2-ranked 2025 Penn State team for a run at the national championship. However, after three head-scratchingly ugly wins to start the season, a metaphorical storm crashed the party.

First came the wind, in the form of an overtime loss to Oregon. Then the rain, in star linebacker Tony Rojas’ season-ending knee injury. Then the thunder, as losses to UCLA and Northwestern. And finally, a full-blown tornado in the form of starting quarterback Drew Allar’s season-ending ankle injury.

The program’s roots were ripped out, yet somehow more fight was shown down the stretch than in the early days of the season.

New head coach Matt Campbell isn’t dwelling on the wreck of the 2025 season, though. Instead, he’s using it to prepare the Nittany Lion ship to sail through the next “storm”, rather than sink after losing an oar.

“Man, you’re going to have injuries, tough days, all these things that are going to happen,” Campbell said. “We don’t know when they’re coming. We don’t know when the adversity is coming, but it’s coming.”

One way Campbell is reading the troops is through a week-to-week attitude.

Veteran quarterback Rocco Becht is guiding the team to be more anchored in its preparation than in years past.

“[Penn State] had a mindset going up against an FCS school, and they had a different mindset going up against a top team in the country,” Becht said. “So right now, what coach Campbell and myself are trying to instill into players is having that same mentality, game in and game out, and acting like you’re playing a top-tier program every week.”

In alignment with that, Campbell has explained that the early offseason months of January through April were used to build the foundation of the team’s identity, one that is structured around personal development and consistency.

By preparing each player the exact same way, regardless of position on the depth chart, each and every Nittany Lion will be able to pounce into action and maintain the same level of toughness and attitude.

This almost militarized approach fosters internal competition and prevents Campbell’s players from becoming complacent about their individual development.

“To be honest with you, on good teams, on great teams that I’ve been a part of, where it’s championship football, you kind of got to earn your job every day,” Campbell said.

“You kind of got to earn it because there’s enough good depth, enough good players that they’re pushing for playing time. I think that’s probably one of the real positives that I’ve seen so far through the summer and the early part of fall camp.

“My guess is we continue to work through fall camp. I think everybody is in an earn-it situation where not only who’s the starter, because I think sometimes you can get lost in it. We’re going to rotate a lot of guys, we’ll play a lot of guys.”

That emphasis on developing a deep, resilient roster that is comfortable with being uncomfortable seems to be Campbell’s recipe for success on the gridiron.

“We’ve got to play harder for longer,” he said. “When it gets tough, because it’s going to, when you have the bad fourth quarter, bad half, maybe you have the bad game, how do you respond, how do you come back, how do you learn and not flinch, waver, not divide, how do you stay together through this? Those are the things that we’re building towards.”

It’s crystal clear that Campbell understands a well-coached program doesn’t let setbacks, no matter how small, derail an entire season.

He is preparing his team for the inevitable, so when the storm hits, his players are ready to keep climbing the mountain.