Penn State’s new era under Matt Campbell is going to come with a built-in measuring stick, and Urban Meyer thinks there’s one thing Campbell absolutely cannot afford to lose if he wants to stack up against James Franklin: momentum.
That was the message Meyer delivered when asked about Campbell’s first season leading the Nittany Lions. Franklin’s run in State College set a high bar in the win column, and Meyer made it clear that Campbell isn’t walking into a situation where patience will last forever.
“The question I have … can he do better than James Franklin?” Meyer said, as reported by On3.
“Because James Franklin won a lot of games there now. A lot.
He’s got a new quarterback, he’s got a new staff and usually, it takes a minute to get going. He can’t lose his momentum - and he’s got a lot of momentum going into the season.
Just can’t lose it.”
Campbell does arrive with some things working in his favor. He has a roster that’s ready to buy in, including players he brought over from Iowa State, and the schedule is described as easier. That gives Penn State a cleaner runway than some other high-profile jobs might offer.
But Meyer’s point cuts deeper than the setup. The real test isn’t just whether Campbell can start well.
It’s what happens when the first setback shows up. Penn State under Franklin never fully recovered after its first loss in 2025, when Oregon handed the Nittany Lions their first defeat of the year and the season unraveled from there.
That’s the danger Campbell has to avoid. A strong start matters, but so does the response when things go sideways. Rallying the locker room, resetting quickly and getting back in the win column will be part of the job from the moment the season turns.
Meyer’s warning may have been aimed at 2026, but the bigger lesson applies over the long haul: if Campbell wants to outperform Franklin, he can’t let one loss drain the energy out of the season.
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