Your expectations for the new coach/staff?

[Nitt1300]

I think Cambell will do very well. I think we were really lucky- literally- to get him.

I'm not going to put too much weight on season one, it's going to be a rebuild- patience.

I expect recruiting to pretty much mirror NIL spending, if we're top five in spending, then we should be top five in recruiting, too. No one knows yet what other programs are going to spend on payroll. but results should reflect budget. Any positive variance from that is a credit to the staff.

Same with the longer-term W/L record, which is the new world of college football. I suppose.

 

[SRURock24]

I think Cambell will do very well. I think we were really lucky- literally- to get him.

I'm not going to put too much weight on season one, it's going to be a rebuild- patience.

I expect recruiting to pretty much mirror NIL spending, if we're top five in spending, then we should be top five in recruiting, too. No one knows yet what other programs are going to spend on payroll. but results should reflect budget. Any positive variance from that is a credit to the staff.

Same with the longer-term W/L record, which is the new world of college football. I suppose.

Even with the schedule I believe next year could be a rebuild.

 

[WDLion]

I think Cambell will do very well. I think we were really lucky- literally- to get him.

I'm not going to put too much weight on season one, it's going to be a rebuild- patience.

I expect recruiting to pretty much mirror NIL spending, if we're top five in spending, then we should be top five in recruiting, too. No one knows yet what other programs are going to spend on payroll. but results should reflect budget. Any positive variance from that is a credit to the staff.

Same with the longer-term W/L record, which is the new world of college football. I suppose.

 

[DaytonRickster]

I think Cambell will do very well. I think we were really lucky- literally- to get him.

I'm not going to put too much weight on season one, it's going to be a rebuild- patience.

I expect recruiting to pretty much mirror NIL spending, if we're top five in spending, then we should be top five in recruiting, too. No one knows yet what other programs are going to spend on payroll. but results should reflect budget. Any positive variance from that is a credit to the staff.

Same with the longer-term W/L record, which is the new world of college football. I suppose.

I think 8, maybe 9 wins. No more. Don't know what the roster will look like and then the players need to adjust to the new schemes.

 

[laKavosiey-st lion]

Is he a young offensive genius play caller and 3 star qb whisperer? (serious question)

if no he will go 1-9 v osu and win one big title a decade. The guys on here who love 10 wins v Akron every season will be satiated

 

[bdgan]

There's no question that Campbell has success at lower levels but is that enough to attract top talent to PSU? Other coaches have more experience at this level and can talk about how many players they sent to the NFL. Many also have NFL experience.

My expectations might be more like hopes but #1 is that he can impress existing players to stay rather than portal. We know they have options in the NIL/portal era and that Franklin will be coming after them hard.

My second expectation/hope is that he can attract high level portal players.

If he does those two things successfully we could be a 9-3 team next year. Otherwise it could be another 6-6 year.

 

[Ludd]

Is he a young offensive genius play caller and 3 star qb whisperer? (serious question)

if no he will go 1-9 v osu and win one big title a decade. The guys on here who love 10 wins v Akron every season will be satiated

So how many coaches winning 10 games will it take for you to realize that maybe it’s not just the coach?

 

[BobPSU92]

NATTY.

 

[BobPSU92]

Even with the schedule I believe next year could be a rebuild.

Trust the processing.

 

[Nits74]

I think Cambell will do very well. I think we were really lucky- literally- to get him.

I'm not going to put too much weight on season one, it's going to be a rebuild- patience.

I expect recruiting to pretty much mirror NIL spending, if we're top five in spending, then we should be top five in recruiting, too. No one knows yet what other programs are going to spend on payroll. but results should reflect budget. Any positive variance from that is a credit to the staff.

Same with the longer-term W/L record, which is the new world of college football. I suppose.

I'll admit to being skeptical to say the least on our prospects for the next few years or more. I'm now optimistic about the future of the program. The younger fans should have much to look forward to. Happy for them.

 

[KingLando]

I have no expectations for next year. Might go 10-2--maybe we go 5-7. Doesn't really matter
2027 is when I expect 10 wins--only 3 games that shouldn't be locks that year and he needs to win one of them.

 

[HarrisburgDave]

I just finished watching the introductory press conference. Well, I am ready to suit up and go at it. I may be over 70, have a bad back, no mobility, and two or three major health issues, but he has me motivated.

 

[HarrisburgDave]

I have no expectations for next year. Might go 10-2--maybe we go 5-7. Doesn't really matter
2027 is when I expect 10 wins--only 3 games that shouldn't be locks that year and he needs to win one of them.

We have a coach who looks at that schedule and sees wins. Beating a ranked team is not a question for him, it’s a doable challenge.

 

[ApexLion]

I think Cambell will do very well. I think we were really lucky- literally- to get him.

I'm not going to put too much weight on season one, it's going to be a rebuild- patience.

I expect recruiting to pretty much mirror NIL spending, if we're top five in spending, then we should be top five in recruiting, too. No one knows yet what other programs are going to spend on payroll. but results should reflect budget. Any positive variance from that is a credit to the staff.

Same with the longer-term W/L record, which is the new world of college football. I suppose.

Same as last year 6-6 play in Detroit

 

[LMTLION]

Even with the schedule I believe next year could be a rebuild.

I agree wholeheartedly. In his own words, including the Pate interview, he will not spend money out of his war chest for the sake of spending it. He is building the program on character and work ethic. He acknowledged he will have the ability to recruiter higher quality athletes, but his evaluation process is not changing in terms of finding the guys that fit his culture. He could go out and buy a team of mercenaries for next year and maybe win a lot of games but instead he is going to build it from the ground up. That means a reset/rebuild year in 2026. QB is foundational for the program. Personally, I think he has the right qb in Grunk to bring through his system over the next 3 years to create winning in 2027 and 2028. I really do.

 

[Player2BNamedL8r]

Record aside, I want to see an offense that doesn’t make 3rd & 1 look like 3rd & a mile. I want to see WRs schemed open via legitimate route trees. I want to see an offense that doesn’t rely on 1-2 gimmicky plays a game to beat inferior opponents.

 

[84lion]

Given next year's schedule, I think 6-6 (bowl-eligible) is "the floor," barring injuries or totally striking out in the portal. I'd be happy with that. I'd be thrilled with 9-3 and just missing the CFP. 10 wins or higher - that would be amazing.

I am optimistic about Campbell. Sounds like the kind of no-nonsense guy with a good plan and the ability to execute it, that we need. Even if he doesn't bring in "mercenaries" via the portal, it seems to me that he can get enough out of his guys to get very good results. I think he'll want to achieve a decent record in any case in order to let that "sell" the program.

 

[JoePaMajorCFBrecord409Ws]

Ridiculous to guess records at the moment - this will be a dumb exercise until we have a better idea of what the 2026 Roster looks like... and beyond that, what the projected depth chart looks like coming out of Spring Practice. Let's see what PSU's roster looks like coming out of the X-fer Portal Period Jan. 17, 2026.

 

[fairgambit]

My expectations are high. I want evidence of supremacy.
I want.........the Lambert!

 

[WPB_lion]

I think Cambell will do very well. I think we were really lucky- literally- to get him.

I'm not going to put too much weight on season one, it's going to be a rebuild- patience.

I expect recruiting to pretty much mirror NIL spending, if we're top five in spending, then we should be top five in recruiting, too. No one knows yet what other programs are going to spend on payroll. but results should reflect budget. Any positive variance from that is a credit to the staff.

Same with the longer-term W/L record, which is the new world of college football. I suppose.

He should be going after the recruits that Franklin poached from PSU to VT. IMO, payment of enhanced NIL money to such players would be justified to take some of the air out of Franklin's balloon. Flipping players back this year will pay dividends in future head to head recruiting battles with Franklin. Kill Franklin's momentum before he even coaches a game.

 

[JoeLion]

I believe there will be enough talent on the team, including coaching staff alone to win half of the games scheduled. If they 50/50 on the rest I am looking at approximately 9 or optimistically 10 wins.

 

[94LionsFan]

I think Cambell will do very well. I think we were really lucky- literally- to get him.

I'm not going to put too much weight on season one, it's going to be a rebuild- patience.

I expect recruiting to pretty much mirror NIL spending, if we're top five in spending, then we should be top five in recruiting, too. No one knows yet what other programs are going to spend on payroll. but results should reflect budget. Any positive variance from that is a credit to the staff.

Same with the longer-term W/L record, which is the new world of college football. I suppose.

Natties or it’s off to the cornfield he goes!

 

[Efejle]

I say 7-5 is the expected record next year. This is a full rebuild from the ground up. Patience. The process by the complete removal of the Franklin stench. That's going to take a full year. Year two we can begin to see a jump in level.

 

[Bison13]

Unless something crazy happens with the portal, PSU should be 4-0 going in to the dUMb game. I think MD may be losing their freshman phenom QB for a bigger NIL bag. After that, NW, Rutgres, Purdue and Wisconsin would be probable wins so 8-4 with Minnesota to potentially go 9-3

 

[Phils rug]

Setting my expectations low and just hoping for an improvement in game clock management, anything after that is just a bonus

 

[TheBigUglies]

I think next years schedule if favorable for the new staff to be successful. Only see scUM and USC being hard games to win. Then again we still need to see how the roster shakes out before next season.

My expectations are better in game coaching and a better offensive play calling without the gimmicky bs. I would like to see a team with more energy, more disciplined fundamentals that take care of the little things. No more defenders penetrating into the backfield before the ball gets handed off. Less stupid penalties in key situations. Better OL blocking, open wide receivers, QB making quicker decisions. For example, this Mendoza kid from IU got rid of the ball quickly when there was no one open unlike PSU QBs who would dance around and make a play and take a 20 yd loss on sack(I blame coaching for that and not the QB). Less missed tackles. Less celebrating a good play the player makes when they are losing(get off my lawn!!).

If the team as whole gives everything they got with a lot of energy and comes up short I am okay with that for the first season. But if they look like they did in the first half of 2025 season they we have bigger problems.

I am not expecting a natty of CFP the first year but subsequent years yes.

 

[TheWizardofCamelot]

Next year was always a rebuild, regardless of a new coach. Hard to tell until after the portal window closes, but I think the next two seasons we should be realistically targeting 6-9 wins and be okay with that. We're going to have to be aggressive in this year's portal window because of a lack of a recruiting class - and I'd expect we go after a boatload of underclassmen.

Barring wizardry from Campbell, I'm not expecting to contend for the playoffs/BIG10 until year 3-4. Let him get a couple of cycles oh his guys via recruiting and the portal.

 

[PSU4U]

Even with the schedule I believe next year could be a rebuild.

This transition that will go into spring and beyond will be a very tricky thing. So much depends on players leaving coaches leaving making new hires the transfer portal etc. It will be very chaotic for a while.

Then Spring Practice will be enormously important. Given all of that and even with a fairly easy schedule I think an 8-4 season should be viewed as a big win over all the chaos. Not selling our new coach short but I am giving myself and emotional cushion for next seasons expectations.

 

[PSU4U]

View attachment 1063040

That looks like a pecan pie awesome. So glad you're pie man.

 

[PSU4U]

There's no question that Campbell has success at lower levels but is that enough to attract top talent to PSU? Other coaches have more experience at this level and can talk about how many players they sent to the NFL. Many also have NFL experience.

My expectations might be more like hopes but #1 is that he can impress existing players to stay rather than portal. We know they have options in the NIL/portal era and that Franklin will be coming after them hard.

My second expectation/hope is that he can attract high level portal players.

If he does those two things successfully we could be a 9-3 team next year. Otherwise it could be another 6-6 year.

I do not see a 6-6 team with our schedule. IMO 6-6 would mean the wheels came off I do not see that happening. If we go 8-4 given the gargantuan task ahead that's a good first season.

Not predicting who we MIGHT lose to other than maybe/possibly the Cheaters and WA both being away games. But if Campbel is our HR hire 10-2 might be possible.

 

[bdgan]

I do not see a 6-6 team with our schedule. IMO 6-6 would mean the wheels came off I do not see that happening. If we go 8-4 given the gargantuan task ahead that's a good first season.

Not predicting who we MIGHT lose to other than maybe/possibly the Cheaters and WA both being away games. But if Campbel is our HR hire 10-2 might be possible.

We'll soon know how many of our existing players really love coach Terry and like what they see from Campbell.

I was reasonably impressed with Grunk at QB. The OL has a lot of highly rated kids returning. Rapp & Reynolds could be very good at TE. That leaves RB & WR as the question marks.

I think Granville, Coleman, and Kemajou could be solid at DE but DT is a big concern. LB could be much improved if Rojas & Campbell return and Arrington, Tasch, etc improve. Tracy, Collins, Dixson, Mack, Lane, and Belgrave Shorter are respectable DBs.

So what we need is a RB, a WR, two DTs, and a LB which could get in the portal. But if we lose the potential returnees the hole will be too big and 10-2 or even 9-3 is unlikely.

 

[Connorpozlee]

All I care about is the Land Grant trophy. As Patrick Henry famously kind of said, “Give me the Land Grant or give me death!!!!”

 

[Catch1lion]

Given next year's schedule, I think 6-6 (bowl-eligible) is "the floor," barring injuries or totally striking out in the portal. I'd be happy with that. I'd be thrilled with 9-3 and just missing the CFP. 10 wins or higher - that would be amazing.

I am optimistic about Campbell. Sounds like the kind of no-nonsense guy with a good plan and the ability to execute it, that we need. Even if he doesn't bring in "mercenaries" via the portal, it seems to me that he can get enough out of his guys to get very good results. I think he'll want to achieve a decent record in any case in order to let that "sell" the program.

His GM was a good scout on the portal . With limited resources , they had to choose wisely. The duo seems big on charachter assessment.

 

[doctornick]

My expectations are high. I want evidence of supremacy.
I want.........the Lambert!

View attachment 1063281

I've always been moderately interested in the Lambert Trophy as a historical vestige. Obviously, PSU is not winning this year so I wonder who it will be - Seems like if Navy can win this weekend, it will surely be theirs. If not, probably still Navy but maybe Pitt.

 

[johnmpsu]

It seemed to me that the new coach was more genuine in his first press conference than Franklin was in 12 years. I'm hoping that translates into future success. I think it will.

Nobody really has a clue how next season will turn out until the portal stuff is done. If PSU doesn't get raped in the portal I'd be happy with 9 wins.

 

[step.eng69]

Is he a young offensive genius play caller and 3 star qb whisperer? (serious question)

if no he will go 1-9 v osu and win one big title a decade. The guys on here who love 10 wins v Akron every season will be satiated

IaKav,
You seem upset.

 

[Blair10]

I think Cambell will do very well. I think we were really lucky- literally- to get him.

I'm not going to put too much weight on season one, it's going to be a rebuild- patience.

I expect recruiting to pretty much mirror NIL spending, if we're top five in spending, then we should be top five in recruiting, too. No one knows yet what other programs are going to spend on payroll. but results should reflect budget. Any positive variance from that is a credit to the staff.

Same with the longer-term W/L record, which is the new world of college football. I suppose.

I think the majority of the time the results do not reflect the budget and the variance is not always positive. Just look at Texas, Notre Dame, Florida State, LSU, Florida and Tennessee. None of these giant programs made the CFP this season.

I think it will take coach Campbell at least 3 years to get Penn State back on top. The Franklin roster damage was severe. There are numerous position groups that require a total rebuild. Patience will be needed.

 

[LaJollaCreek]

Until the spring and the roster is steady post portal season, who really knows. Very senior oriented team last year also so 6 games is about it for now because we literally have zero idea of what the roster will look like.

 

[Tgar]

Beat Ohio State, Michigan, USC and Oregon 50% of the time.

Beat Iowa and everyone else every time they are on the schedule.

 

[Itraindogs]

I have no expectations. Much will depend on roster retention and portal acquisition. This team is not poor on talent, its just a matter of who stays and what pieces are added in the portal. IF existing players buy into Campbell and if he brings in a few high value transfer the turnaround could happen as early as next year. With a good, not great roster, I see three losses next year, and lets assume one other fluke loss and I see the floor at 8 and 4. I know folks are fond of Grunk, and he may be great going forward, but my choice would be to go out and get a seasoned, high level QB to jump start the rebuild Rocco will likely come and Grunk may be here but I would like someone more accomplished. The roster is also in desperate need of big bodied DTs and athletic, sideline to sideline LB play.