Penn State Football Coaching Staff 2026

Matt Campbell is listed as head coach in the team profile reviewed on 2026-09-01.

It contains 14 published staff entries. Recruiting, operations and other support roles may not be included; the page does not claim a complete staff directory.

D'Anton Lynn, who played cornerback at Penn State and started 37 games for the program between 2009 and 2011. His return is one of several appointments that tie the new staff back to the school rather than importing it wholesale.

Taylor Mouser, who held the same role under Campbell at Iowa State and also coaches the tight ends. The expectation on him is explicit: the Penn State offence has to be more consistent and more explosive than the Cyclone attack was in 2025.

Terry Smith, who was retained as associate head coach and cornerbacks coach. He had been an assistant since 2014 and went 4-0 as interim head coach after Franklin's dismissal. Returning players cited his retention as a signal that the program's identity would survive the change.

By restructuring the day-to-day rather than the playbook first. He met every returning player one-on-one in December, then twice more, and set up a season-long team competition pairing Iowa State arrivals with Penn State returners, scoring groups on punctuality, community service and head-to-head contests.

58 days passed between Franklin's dismissal and Campbell's introduction, and the cost was a recruiting collapse: 24 members of the incoming class signed elsewhere across 11 schools during the gap. Franklin had already been hired by Virginia Tech three weeks before Campbell was announced.