Penn State’s first week of fall camp has already started to sharpen the picture around Matt Campbell’s first season in charge, and there’s a lot packed into it: a reset in football, a volleyball team built to contend, and a former Nittany Lion making noise in the NFL.
On the football side, the mood around Happy Valley has shifted fast since Campbell took over in Dec. 2025.
The fit has been praised from the jump, with his culture and the presence of familiar faces on the roster helping fuel optimism about what comes next. Kirk Herbstreit has pointed to that blend of culture, a favorable schedule, and players who already know the staff as a path to success.
Still, the program is carrying the weight of a rough 2025. Penn State entered that season ranked No. 2 in the preseason and ended up barely reaching a non-playoff bowl game.
With that kind of stumble in the rearview, expectations have to be handled carefully. The preseason coaches poll reflected that reality by slotting the Nittany Lions at No.
Campbell’s first season is also coming with a new game-day wrinkle. Penn State has already revealed its Stripe Out game, and it will come in Week 1 against Marshall at Beaver Stadium.
Fans will be asked to wear their section’s designated color for the opener, which is an ambitious move for a non-conference game but also a clear attempt to rally the crowd behind a new head coach. The last Stripe Out came in Week 7 against Northwestern, which also turned out to be James Franklin’s final game as Penn State’s coach.
If Campbell gets the start he’s looking for, it would give the season an early jolt.
Northwestern is back in the conversation too, thanks to a bold Big Ten prediction picking the Wildcats to upset Penn State. That Week 7 loss in 2025 was the one that ultimately sealed Franklin’s fate with athletic director Pat Kraft, so Campbell has every reason to want to make a stronger first impression and show he’s not Franklin.
While football resets, Penn State women’s volleyball looks like a program that’s ready to move forward in a hurry. Last season didn’t go the way the Nittany Lions wanted, with setter Izzy Stark gone and the offense lacking the experience it needed to hold up at a high level. Too often, the team seemed to work against itself.
This year feels different. Penn State brought in setter Alexis Stucky from Florida, and that move reunited her with rightside hitter Kennedy Martin. Around them are more seasoned pieces at the net in Caroline Jurevicius and Emmi Sellman.
Martin and Stucky are still the names to circle. Both are in their final NCAA season, and their chemistry already gives the offense a different edge. The Big Ten clearly noticed too, naming both to the Preseason All-Conference Team, with Martin earning unanimous selection.
The preseason respect extends beyond individual honors. Penn State was picked third in the Preseason Coaches Poll, a significant jump for a team that finished seventh in the Big Ten in 2025. Only Nebraska and Wisconsin, the top two teams in the poll, were placed ahead of the Nittany Lions.
And there was more Penn State news out of the NFL, where former defensive back Zakee Wheatley got his first taste of pro football in Thursday night’s Hall of Fame Game. The Carolina Panthers selected Wheatley 151st overall in the fifth round of the 2026 NFL Draft, and he arrived in the league after a five-year Penn State career that produced 223 tackles, six interceptions, six passes defended, five tackles for loss, three forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, and one sack.
Wheatley made his debut count. In Carolina’s 33-30 win over Arizona, he finished with eight tackles and one forced fumble. That kind of production in a preseason setting is exactly what a player wants when roster decisions are still ahead.
The Panthers currently have six safeties on the roster, including another former Nittany Lion, Nick Scott, who is entering his ninth NFL season.
In Other News...
Penn State Freshmen Are Already Creating A Matt Campbell Dilemma
Penn States rebuilt 2026 recruiting class has not had much time to settle in under Matt Campbell, but two freshmen are already making the new staff pay attention. After the change at the top and a late reset of the class, the Nittany Lions signed 15 players and landed at 65th nationally, a number that reflected the scramble as much as the ceiling. Even in that context, early spring ball and camp have produced a couple of names that stood out quickly enough to earn real praise from the coaches.
Amarion Jackson has drawn notice for his versatility, while offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser has liked how ready he looks to contribute. On the other side of the ball, Jackson Ford has flashed the kind of physical traits that defensive line coach Ikaika Malloe believes can translate fast. For a staff still sorting out what its first Penn State roster under Campbell will look like, those kind of early impressions create an interesting problem before the season even begins. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Teammates Just Revealed Their Early Breakout Favorites
Penn States annual media day offered an early glimpse at how the locker room is viewing the roster heading into the 2026 season under new head coach Matt Campbell. Players were asked to identify potential breakout candidates, and the answers touched just about every corner of the team, from wide receivers to offensive linemen to defenders. It was less a forecast than a snapshot of internal confidence, the kind of thing that can hint at where teammates think the biggest jumps are coming.
The interesting part is how broad the support was, with different players putting forward different names based on the roles they expect those teammates to grow into. Those picks do not mean anything is settled, of course, but they do show that expectations are already forming around several players before the season has even begun. For a program adjusting to a new coach, that kind of peer recognition can be an early sign of where the next wave of production might come from. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Fans Know What Matt Campbell Has To Fix Fast
Matt Campbell arrives in Happy Valley with a clear mandate after Penn State moved on from James Franklin following the 2025 season, and the timing of the hire makes the pressure immediate. His track record at Iowa State gave him credibility as a program builder, and that matters in a place where the expectation is not just stability but Big Ten titles and repeated trips to the College Football Playoff.
The challenge now is less about establishing a foundation than proving he can push Penn State over the top in the games that decide a season. Campbells next step will be measured in the tight fourth-quarter moments that separate a good hire from a championship one, and Penn State fans already know that progress in those spots has to come quickly. [Read more 🡒]