Following Penn State’s fourth spring practice of the year, head coach Matt Campbell met with reporters on Tuesday inside a team meeting room in the Lasch Building.
Campbell shared updates of the recruiting front, the “surprise” player of spring ball and more during the presser. Here’s what he said.
Relational recruiting
Similar to the previous regime, Campbell and Co. pride themselves on building relationships in the recruiting process, which serves dual purposes: create a level of trust with recruits and determine whether or not they fit the Nittany Lions’ scheme.
While some coaching staffs chase stars, Campbell’s philosophy differs — he wants recruits who will fit his scheme, which was more of a necessity than a choice at Iowa State, a program with recruiting constraints.
The challenge is forming those relationships with a delayed start, as the staff only arrived in the winter. Many of the program’s top targets have been recruited by other staffs for years, creating a disadvantage for the 2026 and 2027 cycles.
“You’re playing catch up in some ways, you know, in terms of your ‘27 class,” Campbell said. “Because to me, no different than I said about spring practice, slow and right is critical, and it’s all about the human beings that we bring in here.”
Being at Penn State opens the door to different regions of the country with preexisting pipelines and generally attracts higher-caliber recruits than those interested in Iowa State, which enables the staff to be more competitive with blue chips.
“Obviously having the logo and the history of this place certainly gives you great opportunity to recruit in this region some of the best football in the entire world,” Campbell said. “And that part of it is rewarding.”
Barry is balling
Penn State isn’t lacking bodies in the quarterback room, but presumptive starter Rocco Becht and presumptive backup Alex Manske are both recovering from injury, leaving the group a little sparse, particularly during live-action reps which Becht sits out for.
The silver lining is quarterbacks like Christopher Newport transfer Connor Barry get extra reps, sometimes with the first team, helping with their development. Though spring ball is just getting underway, Campbell called Barry the “surprise” of the spring.
“Some of these young folks have done a great job taking advantage of those reps, which are huge,” Campbell said. “And honestly, Connor Barry, you know, he’s come in, and he’s really done a great job. He’s probably been the surprise so far, four days of practice, just his ability to get quality reps.”
Professor Lynn
Installing a new defense is a difficult task — Jim Knowles’ attempt last year resulted disastrously for Penn State — but for new DC D’Anton Lynn, teaching is one of his greatest strengths.
“I think one of the great gifts that he has, and what was so impressive to me, even through the interview process, is just his ability to articulate what he wants out of the defense, what the expectations are,” Campbell said. “And you know, he’s a great holistic teacher.”
Campbell credited Lynn’s time in the NFL with the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Chargers, Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens for this ability. Not only was Lynn constantly moving cities and learning new defenses, time with players is limited and requires effective communication.
“I think that’s been the fun thing to watch him, number one, align the coaching staff on verbiage, communication, everybody speaking the same language,” Campbell said. “That’s where coaching has got to start and then to watch that coaching staff start to implement what the defense needs to look like. What are the standards? How are we communicating through everything?”
