The cracks started show in Penn State’s 2025 foundation as soon as Terry Smith turned the team around in his time as interim head coach.
He had a talented group finally playing more freely. It was no coincidence that a team once expected to compete for a national title, despite losing six games in a row, took eventual champion Indiana to the wire under Smith’s leadership.
Team captain and senior defensive tackle Zane Durant acknowledged that the team had more fun down the stretch. Fellow captain and linebacker Dom DeLuca said Smith put the “broken pieces back together” after a historic collapse and James Franklin’s firing.
The team bought heavily into its own preseason hype. The power dynamic between coaches, older players and younger contributors was out of balance. Accountability was at times lost, and every aspect of the program was heavily micromanaged.
“Having huge expectations, I think we kind of got caught up in the extra stuff that we usually didn’t do in the past. That came back to bite us,” Durant said after Penn State thrashed Nebraska on Senior Day. “But (Smith) just told us, ‘Look, we’re here for one reason. Came here to play football and provide for this university. So why not do it and have fun?’ And we got back to doing that. So I think that’s what kept us all tight-knit and together.”
The perceived cracks in last year’s team have only become wider as time grows with first-year coach Matt Campbell and his 2026 team.
Returning star linebacker Tony Rojas said flatly that things are being run differently under Campbell — emphasizing the accountability the former Iowa State coach and his staff are showing.
“I think he’s a great guy,” Rojas said. “I think he just holds a lot of us accountable, especially leaders and the guys coming back from Iowa State. I think that’s one of the biggest things that we lacked the last couple of years is accountability and being on the guys as a coach.”
A large piece of Campbell’s rejuvenation of the Nittany Lions and a factor in bringing a diverse roster together in a short period of time, the team of roughly 100 players has been split into eight small groups.
Two or three members of the leadership council drafted their peers, emphasizing mixing different position groups together. The teams gain or lose points each week based on their class attendance, timeliness to meetings and a bevy of other factors. Rojas said he appreciates such things because Penn State “hasn’t been the best academically” in recent years.
Then, the losing small group each week has to clean the facility at 5 a.m. Wednesday.
Oklahoma State transfer defensive tackle Armstrong Nnodim said his group “unfortunately” had to do it once already. It’s safe to say it was a valuable learning experience, and he’ll do what he can to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“It just shows that it takes everybody to win,” Nnodim said. “One person could be doing everything right, but as soon as one person does something wrong, the whole team fails.”
Returning offensive lineman Cooper Cousins said the coaching staff has been more personable and open to players walking into their office to exchange ideas. Tackles Garrett Sexton and Anthony Donkoh offered similar sentiments, highlighting a more “relaxed” environment around the Lasch Building.
“Whatever pressure that we had last year is not there. Whatever pressure we had the year before is not there. We’re just here to play ball and to really have fun again,” Donkoh said. “There’s no pressure from the coaches, no pressure from the strength staff. You’re not having to worry about somebody breathing down your neck when you make a mistake or stress about even a small thing, like just being afraid. You’re just able to be free. That’s how it is in the team right now, and that’s why we’re able to get close really fast.”
Campbell’s shift in culture also extends beyond the field and the weight room.
Penn State has already been more active in the community. The Lions held their annual Thon Explorers event last weekend, with players and coaches mingling with Four Diamonds families faced with pediatric cancer.
A new wrinkle, though, is that some players donated NIL money to Thon thanks to an initiative started by defensive end Max Granville. Campbell committed to matching the donations at the end of the giving period.
Other players have gone to local elementary schools to read or have packed lunches for children at various times during the week.
“That wasn’t really a thing. I really didn’t do that at all the past couple of years I’ve been here,” Rojas said. “Coach Campbell really emphasizes not just focus on football, but stuff off the field.
“I’ve never really been associated with a lot of community service, but I have been recently. I think that bonds us together.”
This is a player-led group that has worked quickly to get to know each other in a short amount of time.
Campbell’s philosophies have had an impact, but senior linebacker Caleb Bacon — who followed Campbell from Iowa State — put it simply. And it’s a clear image of how much different things will be in 2026 than they were in the past at Penn State.
“(Campbell) says it himself. Eventually, some of those guys are going to tune him out. But they’re not going to tune us out,” Bacon said. “They’re going to watch what we do. They’re going to take after us.
“(He brings) a team that’s really together and that cares for each other, loves each other inside and outside of football. Because at the end of the day, that’s really all you’ve got is the guys next to you that you’re going into battle with.”