Matt Campbell introduced as Penn State's 17th football coach

Audio By Carbonatix

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — As he steadily built up Iowa State’s football program, Matt Campbell regularly turned down other head coaching gigs until his dream job opened.

After a decade in Ames, the 46-year-old from Massillon, Ohio, couldn’t say no to the chance to take over one of college football’s storied programs in Penn State, especially considering the Nittany Lions were offering the three things Campbell sought — a chance to live closer to his boyhood home, work with leaders committed to dedicating resources to the football program and a chance to end his career in Happy Valley.

Campbell was officially introduced as Penn State’s 17th football coach on Monday, just a few hours after the University’s Board of Trustees approved an eight-year contract worth up to $78.5 million including yearly retention bonuses of $1 million.

As he stepped behind a wooden podium in the Beaver Stadium media room, Campbell was immediately emotional as cameras clicked around him. Flanked by athletic director Patrick Kraft and with Campbell’s family seated near university president Neeli Bendapudi, Campbell called the chance to coach Penn State “one of the greatest honors” of his life.

“It’s a dream come true for me,” Campbell said. “I never wanted to be that coach that was going to jump from job to job. If we were ever to leave Iowa State, I wanted to go somewhere and I wanted to finish my career and I wanted to stand for something that’s bigger than Matt Campbell. It’s not about me. It’s about the players and to represent something bigger than myself.”

Campbell, who was Iowa State’s winningest coach with a 72-55 record in 10 seasons, takes over a team that began the year with high expectations, a No. 2 preseason ranking before stumbling to a 3-3 start and a tumble from the rankings that sparked James Franklin’s firing on Oct. 12 after 12 seasons.

“We really got the guy, and the guy who’s going to lead us to a national championship,” Kraft said.

The Nittany Lions finished the year under interim coach Terry Smith, going 3-3 over their final six games to salvage a Pinstripe Bowl berth. Penn State will play Clemson in Yankee Stadium on Dec. 12.

Meanwhile, Kraft mounted the longest coaching search in school history that was not without drama.

Numerous names were linked to the Penn State opening during the 54-day search. Some potential candidates signed extensions at their current schools, including BYU’s Kalani Sitake. Kraft said there was no timeline to make the hire and instead he was focused on simply “finding the right person.”

He admitted that Penn State zeroed in on Campbell as a candidate late and only through “twists and turns in the road.” A “late-night call” with Campbell just over a week ago got the process started.

“There will probably be a Netflix documentary at some point,” Kraft said, drawing chuckles from the full room. “I was banging my head against the wall, like, ‘Why’d it take so long for us to find each other?’ He was perfect and we connected on so many levels.”

During the search, Kraft met with the football team’s leadership group to quell their concerns. The profanity-laced talk in which Kraft said he would likely lose his job and not get another AD position should he hire the wrong person, was recorded by someone in the room and leaked to a podcast last week.

Kraft said he was embarrassed by the leaked audio and apologized.

“Personally, it’s been challenging for me, but I am very passionate about Penn State,” Kraft said. “I fell short of the standard that I should represent for all my staff that sits up there, all the 833 athletes that I represent, and I can’t apologize enough those I may have offended.”

Campbell, who said he spoke about the job’s expectations with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson, who also came from Iowa State, gave Kraft a bear hug as the press conference concluded. He then zipped upstairs for a meet-and-greet with other athletic department staffers and program boosters. His plans for the rest of the day included sit-down meetings with current players.

Those meetings will continue through the week for Campbell, who had never been to Happy Valley before despite being familiar with Joe Paterno’s teams growing up just 240 miles east of State College. He will have the help of Penn State’s interim coach, Terry Smith.

A longtime assistant and associate head coach under Franklin, Smith signed a contract last week to stay with Penn State and is expected to lead the team against Clemson in the Pinstripe Bowl.

Smith will talk with reporters for the first time since Campbell's hiring on Tuesday.

“Terry is somebody who has really been the heartbeat of this program, a mentor, a connector and someone who embodies everything that Penn State stands for,” Campbell said. “His impact on our communities is absolutely immeasurable. I think we’d all agree that the future of Penn State football is very, very bright.”

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football