College Football
Penn State Will Pay Iowa State Hefty Fee To Buy Out Matt Campbell’s Remaining Contract
Penn State Great Valley MBA, Penn State Berks Undergrad, Eagle Scout and Vigil Honor, IT Service Manager. I joined Sports Talk Philly in 2017 and root for all the Philly teams (as well as their minor league counter parts).
All posts by Paul BowmanPublished09 Dec 2025
There is a new coach in Happy Valley.
With Matt Campbell officially hired, the Nittany Lions have wrapped up a 50+ day search.
Campbell is set to be paid an average of around $8.8 million per year without incentives.
Penn State has made the terms of Matt Campbell’s contract public.
Eight years, $70.5 million guaranteed.
Automatic one-year extension for each CFP appearance. #WeAre #PennState pic.twitter.com/rasktX3i85
— Basic Blues Nation (@BasicBlues) December 8, 2025
But he was already under contract with the Cyclones, so Penn State had to first buy out that contract.
That comes at the cost of $2 million for the Nittany Lions.
Though that may seem like a large number, it could be worse.
When it became clear that the Cyclones would be losing Campbell, they acted quickly and signed Jimmy Rogers – for a $4 million buyout. They then received a $500,000 fine from the Big IX for turning down a bowl bid.
After Penn State pays Iowa State that buyout fee, Iowa State Football will be out $2.5 million to start of their new era – a number already worse than the $2 million Penn State will be shelling out.
