Last week, we asked folks to respond to our fan poll to gauge the Penn State community’s thoughts on the state of the athletic program.

We linked the poll in a separate article and shared it across Onward State’s social media pages.

Today, it’s time to comb through the results and check the pulse of Nittany Nation, both the good and the bad.

Do You Believe Matt Campbell Is The Right Coach For Penn State Football Moving Forward?

Yes: 40.3%
No: 14.3%
Unsure/Neutral: 45.4%

It’s not surprising that nearly half of our respondents don’t have a strong opinion on Matt Campbell. After all, he’s had just nine games as head coach, and as much as Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti and UCLA head coach Bob Chesney are showing elsewhere in the Big Ten that quick turnarounds are possible, it’s still pretty hard.

A few fans were supportive of Campbell in the voluntary free-response section:

“I think if Campbell can become more cutthroat and less laid back, then he is the right guy.”

“Campbell needs time to grow, get his own recruiting class in, adjust to a new part of the country, and adjust to a new conference. Very hard for adaptation in one year (thanks Cignetti).”

Do You Approve Of Pat Kraft As Penn State’s Athletic Director?

Yes: 10.4%
No: 72.7%
Unsure/Neutral: 16.9%

On the other hand, nearly 75% of respondents definitively disapproved of Pat Kraft as athletic director, with much of the vitriol coming from the prolonged coaching search.

Here were some of the voluntary written responses:

“Kraft is a glorified cheerleader who is leading the department down a path of financial uncertainty. To make it up, sooner or later, sports are going to be dropped.”

“Should have been fired following the team meeting with the players. Total embarrassment to me, an alumnus.”

“You can argue about the results of the football coaching search. Is Matt Campbell the right guy? The wrong guy? Only time will tell. But the search itself was a mismanaged, poorly executed train wreck. It was the most important thing Pat Kraft ever did as the AD, and he blew it.”

“Pat Kraft’s ego is just as big a problem as Franklin’s was. He can’t get out of his own way and continues to overpromise and underdeliver. It’s about time Penn State finds a capable and competent athletic director.”

Do You Approve of Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi?

Yes: 35.5%
No: 30.3%
Unsure/Neutral: 34.2%

Despite all the bad PR Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi gets for raising tuition and taking home bigger and bigger bonuses every year, Penn Staters are relatively split on Neeli Bendapudi.

Do You Believe Guy Gadowsky Is The Right Coach For Penn State Men’s Hockey Moving Forward?

Yes: 79.2%
No: 2.6%
Unsure/Neutral: 18.2%

Penn State men’s hockey’s 2-7-1 start has not turned the fanbase against Penn State men’s hockey head coach Guy Gadowsky yet, as the longtime head coach remains extremely popular in Hockey Valley.

Do You Believe Mike Rhoades Is The Right Coach For Penn State Men’s Basketball Moving Forward?

Yes: 40.8%
No: 21.1%
Unsure/Neutral: 38.1%

Many respondents were also undecided about Penn State men’s basketball head coach Mike Rhoades, which may be because he isn’t getting a fair shake, given how underfunded the basketball team is in terms of NIL.

Part of the criticism about Kraft in the voluntary free-response section mentioned Rhoades:

“Give more money to Mike Rhoades.”

“Also, [Kraft] gutted our basketball program investing in football, just to completely screw us over in the end.”

Looking Back A Year & Change, Should Penn State Have Fired James Franklin?

Yes: 65.8%
No: 23.7%
Unsure/Neutral: 10.5%

Despite the jokes the college football world has made or how turbulent the 2026 season has been, most respondents still believed firing James Franklin was the right option.

I’m sure if you polled people last October, you’d see similar numbers for Franklin approval. Some fans still believe that Penn State acted too hastily.

Outside Of Football, Which Penn State Sport Is Your Favorite?

Men’s Hockey: 26.3%
Wrestling: 22.4%
Men’s Basketball: 17.1%
Women’s Volleyball: 17.1%
Baseball: 5.3%
Women’s Hockey: 3.9%
Other: 7.8%

Can you imagine another Big Ten school whose basketball program is tied for the third most popular?

Though you can definitely see how it’s just a matter of funding and prestige. Women’s volleyball has a great legacy in Happy Valley, as does wrestling, but the hockey program is just 15 years old.

If Penn State can find a Terry Pegula-esque booster for basketball, maybe the Bryce Jordan Center can finally fill up.

Several votes for baseball and women’s hockey are nice to see. Women’s golf, swimming, men’s lacrosse, men’s soccer, field hockey, and women’s basketball all received one vote.

What’s Been Your Favorite Coaching Hire In The Last Year?

Matt Campbell (football): 40.3%
Tanisha Wright (women’s basketball): 23.6%
Hannah Prince (field hockey): 23.6%
Rob Dow (men’s soccer): 8.3%
Colin McMillan (men’s volleyball): 4.2%

Success has been a struggle for some of Penn State’s newest coaches (McMillan’s crew kicks off in January), but Prince has completely turned around a field hockey program that was sputtering the last few seasons.

A ferocious late-season push for the postseason fell agonizingly short for the field hockey team, as they were among the first teams out of the NCAA Tournament field.

Do You Think Price Hikes In & Around Beaver Stadium Are Worth It For The $700 Million Renovation?

Yes: 16.4%
No: 74%
Unsure/Neutral: 9.6%

I can’t wait for the Beaver Stadium renovation to be finished. If it’s anything like the renderings, it’ll make one of college football’s grand cathedrals even better.

The problem is that the university doesn’t have the liquidity to fully fund this on its own, which has led to price hikes all across gameday. The expanded capacity is also leaving large swaths of empty seats during a lost season.

Almost 75% of respondents do not think the trade-off is worth it.

Are You More Or Less Likely To Buy Tickets To Penn State Football Games Going Forward?

More likely: 2.7%
Less likely: 53.3%
No difference: 44%

Not surprisingly, the hiked-up season ticket prices for football and the second consecutive mediocre season are not exactly inspiring confidence.

Should The Football Student Section Be…

Expanded: 34.2%
Reduced: 10.5%
Kept the same: 55.2%

A surprising result to me, given how empty the student section has been this season, but again, this could mean many respondents were students.

How Should Student Season Tickets Be Determined?

Old first-come, first-served system: 36.8%
Points system that rewards supporting other sports: 22.4%
Current lottery system: 21.1%
Current lottery system excluding Commonwealth campuses: 13.2%
Other: 6.5%

Unsurprisingly, the lottery system isn’t that popular, with only about 20% of respondents supporting the current system. Just over 34% support some form of lottery.

The old system remains king, while there’s strong support for the system Penn State Rewards is attempting.

There were some other ideas floated in the free-response section of the question:

“It should be a weighted lottery where you scan your student ID when you enter and leave other sports, accumulating over time to give you a better chance at receiving a football ticket.”

“Loyalty based on showing up to the games you received tickets for.”

The first one is interesting. It would disincentivize people from leaving at halftime.

On A Scale Of Zero To Five, How Much Interest Do You Have In Penn State’s Athletic Program Outside Of Football?

5: 13.2%
4: 35.5%
3: 34.2%
2: 10.5%
1: 3.9%
0: 2.6%

You love to see it: almost 85% of respondents had at least moderate interest in the athletic program overall, with nearly half answering 4 or higher.

How Much Interest Do You Have In Penn State Men’s Basketball?

5: 16.2%
4: 12.2%
3: 14.9%
2: 23%
1: 17.6%
0: 16.2%

There are plenty of reasons basketball hasn’t been the big sport it is elsewhere at Penn State. One reason for that is that much of the fanbase won’t invest their time if it’s not a priority for the athletic program.

Responses were spread almost evenly across the options.

How Much Interest Do You Have In Penn State Women’s Sports?

5: 17.3%
4: 21.3%
3: 30.7%
2: 16%
1: 8%
0: 6.7%

Nearly 70% of respondents chose at least a 3, which you don’t see at many universities. With how disappointing the men’s sports have been this fall, Penn State fans seem to appreciate what they’ve got in women’s sports.

Do You Believe More Of An Emphasis Should Be Put On Football & Basketball NIL Spending At The Expense Of Non-Revenue Sports?

Yes: 49.3%
No: 46.7%
Unsure/Neutral: 4%

This one’s interesting. Given how much support women’s sports and non-revenue sports seem to have, nearly half of respondents are willing to throw them under the bus.

There are plenty of athletic programs that either don’t sponsor or don’t invest in sports like wrestling, soccer, and lacrosse (ahem, SEC), and thus have more money for football and basketball, the only two sports that generate a profit.

Balance in an athletic program is important, but it makes sense to be peeved that basketball isn’t competitive.

Do You Believe NIL Has Been A Net Positive Or Net Negative For College Sports?

Net positive: 10.5%
Net negative: 77.6%
Neutral/Unsure: 11.8%

The NIL arms race has pissed off a lot of college sports fans, to the point that over 75% of our respondents say it’s now a net negative. Sheesh.

Do You Support A 24-Team College Football Playoff?

Yes: 21.1%
No: 67.1%
Unsure/Neutral: 11.8%

In what can only be described as perfect timing, the 24-team CFP was approved Monday, just in time for these results.

Safe to say, despite opening up more access for perennial contention in Happy Valley, not many people are fans of the change.

What Encourages You Most About The Direction Of Penn State Football?

We left this prompt open so folks could voluntarily share their thoughts. Some were positive; some were negative.

“Campbell is a good man. Hopeful he is a great coach.”

“That the current staff embraces the past”

“If Matt Campbell can execute on the words that he says to the media, I think that he is a good cultural fit for the direction of Penn State football.”

“Coach Campbell did more with less at Iowa State. He is a great recruiter and developer of talent. He has also developed multiple quality QBs, and we are missing that.”

“Matt Campbell is the right guy for the job. He needs the time to build a program and an AD who will give him the resources he needs to be competitive in the B1G.”

“We survived what is arguably the worst scandal in sports history. We can survive anything.”

On the other hand, three people responded “nothing” verbatim. About 10 others said something similar.

What Concerns You Most About The Direction Of Penn State Football?

This section was also left as a free-response, and oh boy, some of the answers are harsh:

“The administration behind it. The AD looks like a clown on the sidelines during games. He should be talking with potential donors.”

“Lack of support and coverage of women’s sports. Why isn’t there radio coverage for women’s volleyball, soccer, ice hockey?”

“Penn State is a blue-collar, grassroots culture. How do we build and continue that in an era of the transfer portal, where you may only see a player for a matter of months? Does that build a program?”

“Right now my biggest concern is the roster. I think Campbell is a good coach, but I’m not sure the players he brought from Iowa State are at the level Penn State needs to compete in the Big Ten. I also question Pat Kraft’s handling of the coaching change, especially firing Franklin without having a replacement ready. Penn State has high expectations, and I don’t think the team is set up to meet them right now.”

“Matt Campbell might believe too much in his players, such as refusing to sideline Rocco Becht after horrible performances. It’s okay to sit out a player. That’s the only way they will truly learn from their mistakes.”

“Fanbase wants to be nationally competitive and perennial Big Ten contenders but does not want to support the program financially. We are run-of-the-mill in NIL, and our stadium is a relic. Lost opportunity building a new stadium with an infrastructure that supports the gameday experience.”

“Pricing out long-term fans with season tickets. Not delivering a premium product for premium prices.”

Additionally, multiple people expressed, to some extent, Campbell’s prior struggles with getting blue-chip recruits.

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