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Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard reveals deeply personal reason Matt Campbell left for Penn State

ns_headshot_2024-clearby: Nick Schultz10 hours agoNickSchultz_7

Multiple times during his time as Iowa State head coach, Matt Campbell came up in coaching carousel rumors before choosing to stay. But Friday night, On3’s Pete Nakos reported he was leaving to take the Penn State job, and Cyclones athletics director Jamie Pollard said it was a “personal” move.

Campbell is an Ohio native, and Pollard said he has been dealing with family members who are sick. In addition, Campbell’s daughter is preparing to head to college in Washington, D.C., and he can be closer to her.

That’s why Pollard said the move was deeply personal for Campbell. His family played an important part in the decision to leave a program at which he won more games than anyone else.

“This was entirely a personal decision that he was wrestling with about, is this the time to go home?” Pollard told a group of reporters Friday. “He’s got a mother that’s got cancer. Erica’s mother has been sick. Their eldest daughter, Katie, is going to school in college next year out in D.C.

“So the opportunity for all of them to be there. He was just abundantly clear from the get-go with us that he didn’t want us spending any time on that because that didn’t matter to him. This was a personal decision for him on a family level.”

After starting his college career at Pitt, Campbell spent the majority of his football career in Ohio. He transferred to Division III Mount Union from 1999-2002 and began his coaching career at Bowling Green from 2003-04 as a graduate assistant. After two years on Mount Union’s staff as offensive coordinator, he returned to Bowling Green as an assistant from 2007-08.

In 2009, Campbell became the run game coordinator at Toledo and moved up to offensive coordinator from 2010-11. In 2012, he took over as head coach, leading the Rockets to a 35-15 overall record – including a 24-8 mark in MAC play – and winning two MAC West titles.

Iowa State then came calling in 2016, and Matt Campbell built the program up and became its all-time winningest coach with 72 victories. He had five seasons with at least eight wins, including an 8-4 mark this past year.

The Cyclones’ best season under his watch came in 2024 when they went 11-3 and made the Big 12 Championship, where they fell to Arizona State. It marked their second appearance in the conference title game under Campbell’s leadership.