Penn State Football Faces a Crossroads: Leadership, Culture, and the Road Ahead
This wasn’t the script Penn State had in mind for the 2025 season. A Pinstripe Bowl berth at Yankee Stadium wasn’t the goal.
Conversations about a new head coach, uncertainty at quarterback, and questions about locker room leadership weren’t supposed to be part of the winter narrative. But here we are - and the Nittany Lions are left to pick up the pieces and figure out where things go from here.
Instead of gearing up for a College Football Playoff appearance, Penn State is staring down an offseason full of pivotal decisions. And it starts, as it so often does in college football, with the quarterback.
Grunkemeyer’s Decision Looms Large
Ethan Grunkemeyer stepped into the starting role this season and showed steady growth over his first six starts. He wasn’t perfect, but he flashed enough to make people believe he could be the guy moving forward - whether that’s in Happy Valley or somewhere else.
For now, Grunkemeyer is keeping his cards close to the vest.
“Nothing decided yet, just focused on this game,” he said during a media call. “The goal is to find the best situation possible. That’s what my agents and my parents are helping me with - just finding the best situation for me, and then going from there.”
And make no mistake: he’ll have options. If he stays, he could compete for the starting job under new head coach Matt Campbell.
Or he could transfer and likely step into a starting role elsewhere. Either way, his development this season has earned him that opportunity.
But if he returns, it won’t just be about on-field performance. It’ll be about stepping into a leadership role - something this team sorely lacked in 2025.
Leadership Void at the Core of Collapse
According to safety King Mack, the lack of buy-in and leadership was a major factor in the team’s unraveling.
“There’s more inside that goes on in a football team that outsiders don’t really see,” Mack said. “Some lack of leadership, some lack of having people buy in - it doesn’t seem like a big issue, but it is. Not having all 100 people locked in and focused on one thing at one time - it’s hard to be successful when people on your ship aren’t all in on one mission.”
That disconnect came to a head when audio leaked from a private meeting between Athletic Director Pat Kraft and a group of team leaders. The meeting - requested by players on the leadership council - was meant to be a closed-door conversation. Instead, it became a flashpoint for a team already dealing with internal fractures.
The leak not only violated trust, but also potentially broke the law. More importantly, it underscored the very issue Mack pointed to: a lack of accountability and unity.
“A meeting like that should never have been broadcasted,” Mack said. “That shows the lack of leadership and accountability.
The fact that someone in that room would jeopardize everyone - anything could have been said in that meeting and could have jeopardized anyone’s future or career. That’s part of the selfishness and the lack of leadership around the team that we have to fix.”
Campbell’s Culture Reset
Mack, like Grunkemeyer, is holding off on making any decisions about his future until after the bowl game. But he spoke with conviction about the direction of the program under Matt Campbell. And he sounded like someone who’s seriously considering being a part of it.
Mack’s journey has already taken him from Penn State to Alabama and back again. If he stays, he could be a foundational piece of the defense in 2026 - not just as a playmaker, but as a voice in the locker room. And that’s exactly the kind of player Campbell needs as he tries to reset the culture in State College.
Campbell didn’t mince words when addressing the team.
“He said it’s his job to fix [the issues],” Mack said. “And he said, straight up, he doesn’t want no one who doesn’t want to be here to be here. So we had a team meeting, and they made it very clear - if you don’t want to be here, the door is open.”
That kind of clarity is necessary when a program is at a turning point. Campbell is trying to build a locker room full of players who are all pulling in the same direction - players who want to be at Penn State, who are committed to the grind, and who can help reestablish the identity that’s been lost.
The Stakes Are High
This isn’t just about bouncing back next season. It’s about proving that 2025 was a blip - not the beginning of a trend.
Because when a program starts to slip, it can happen fast. Just look at how quickly the foundation built during James Franklin’s 11-year tenure began to crack over the course of just seven weeks.
Now it’s on Campbell to rebuild - not just the roster, but the culture. And that starts with leaders like Mack and decisions from players like Grunkemeyer.
Penn State’s future depends on more than just talent. It depends on buy-in.
It depends on accountability. It depends on whether this team can come together and build something sustainable - something that can weather adversity and rise above it.
Because if they can’t, the Pinstripe Bowl could become less of an exception - and more of a new normal.