Matt Campbell
Matt Campbell went 110–74 as a head coach, 2011–2026, at Toledo, Iowa State and Penn State. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (2026, 3–3); by them his record is 110–73. Share
- Record
- 110–74 career
- Seasons
- 16
- Schools
- 3
- Final AP top 10
- 1 season
- Born
- Nov 29, 1979
- Alma mater
- Mount Union 2002
- Best season
- 2020 9–3, No. 9
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Toledo bowl game | 1–0 | Military Bowl W | |||
| 2012 | Toledo | 9–4 | T–2nd | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl L | ||
| 2013 | Toledo | 7–5 | T–3rd | |||
| 2014 | Toledo | 9–4 | T–1st | GoDaddy Bowl W | ||
| 2015 | Toledo | 9–2 | T–1st | Boca Raton (not coached) | ||
| 2016 | Iowa State | 3–9 | 9th | |||
| 2017 | Iowa State | 8–5 | T–4th | Liberty Bowl W | ||
| 2018 | Iowa State | 8–5 | T–3rd | Alamo Bowl L | ||
| 2019 | Iowa State | 7–6 | T–3rd | Camping World Bowl L | ||
| 2020 | Iowa State | 9–3 | 1st | Fiesta Bowl W | 9 | |
| 2021 | Iowa State | 7–6 | 4th | Cheez-It Bowl L | ||
| 2022 | Iowa State | 4–8 | 10th | |||
| 2023 | Iowa State | 7–6 | T–4th | Liberty Bowl L | ||
| 2024 | Iowa State | 11–3 | T–1st | Pop-Tarts Bowl W | 15 | |
| 2025 | Iowa State | 8–4 | T–7th | |||
| 2026 | Penn State | 3–4 (Wikipedia: 3–3) |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Charlie Kolar2021 William V. Campbell Trophy
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 45 | 15–30 | 33% |
| Against top-10 teams | 11 | 4–7 | 36% |
| Against rivals | 34 | 21–13 | 62% |
| Conference games | 126 | 74–52 | 59% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 10 | 5–5 | 50% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 87 | 41–46 | 47% |
| At home | 94 | 63–31 | 67% |
| On the road | 78 | 42–36 | 54% |
| At neutral sites | 12 | 5–7 | 42% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 116 | 84–32 | 72% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 68 | 26–42 | 38% |
His own 184 games on file, 2011–2026, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirk Ferentz 2016–2025 | 3–6 | Iowa | 9 | |
| Mike Gundy 2016–2023 | 3–5 | Oklahoma State | 8 | |
| Chris Klieman 2019–2025 | 5–2 | Kansas State | 7 | |
| Lincoln Riley 2017–2026 | 2–5 | Oklahoma, USC | 7 | |
| Neal Brown 2019–2024 | 4–1 | West Virginia | 5 | |
| Pete Lembo 2012–2026 | 3–2 | Ball State, Buffalo | 5 | |
| Gary Patterson 2016–2020 | 3–2 | TCU | 5 | |
| Dave Aranda 2020–2024 | 3–2 | Baylor | 5 | |
| Lance Leipold 2021–2025 | 2–3 | Kansas | 5 | |
| Terry Bowden 2012–2018 | 3–1 | Akron | 4 |
Matt Campbell’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Kansasseries | 10 | 7–3 |
| Kansas Stateseries | 10 | 6–4 |
| TCUseries | 9 | 6–3 |
| Baylorseries | 9 | 5–4 |
| Oklahoma Stateseries | 9 | 4–5 |
| Iowaseries | 9 | 3–6 |
| Oklahomaseries | 9 | 2–7 |
| West Virginiaseries | 8 | 5–3 |
How he was hired
- Hired by Iowa State for the 2016 season from Toledo, where he was head coach.
Power-conference head-coaching hires since 2010, with each coach’s previous job and ties to the school as collected by hand from Wikipedia: Hiring facts: M. Schuckers, cfb_coach_analytics.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003–04 | Bowling Green | Graduate assistant | |
| 2005–06 | Mount Union | Offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| 2007 | Bowling Green | Offensive line coach | |
| 2008 | Bowling Green | Running game coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| 2009 | Toledo | Running game coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| 2010–11 | Toledo | Offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| 2011 | Toledo | Head coach | |
| 2012–15 | Toledo | Head coach | |
| 2016–25 | Iowa State | Head coach | |
| 2026–present | Penn State | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included. Head-coaching seasons the infobox leaves out come from our records.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Gregg BrandonBowling Green
- Tim BeckmanToledo
Assistants who became head coaches
- Alex GoleshSouth Florida, Auburn
- Jason CandleToledo, UConn
- Tom MatukewiczNorthern Illinois, Southeast Missouri State
- Jon HeacockYoungstown State
- Ryan SilverfieldMemphis, Arkansas
- Tyson VeidtBluffton
- Jim HofherBuffalo, Cornell
- Jeff MillsNew Mexico Highlands
- John BonamegoCentral Michigan
- Terry SmithPenn State
Worked under (2)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gregg Brandon | Bowling Green | 2003–08 | 2003–04: graduate assistant; 2007: offensive line coach; 2008: running game coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| Tim Beckman | Toledo | 2009–11 | 2009: running game coordinator and offensive line coach; 2010–11: offensive coordinator and offensive line coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (10)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Golesh | Toledo, 2011: tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator; Iowa State, 2016–19: tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator | South Florida, Auburn | |
| Jason Candle | Toledo, 2011: wide receivers coach; 2012–13: offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach; 2014–15: assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Toledo, UConn | |
| Tom Matukewicz | Toledo, 2012–13: defensive coordinator | Northern Illinois, Southeast Missouri State | |
| Jon Heacock | Toledo, 2014–15: assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and safeties coach; Iowa State, 2016–25: defensive coordinator | Youngstown State | |
| Ryan Silverfield | Toledo, 2014: offensive consultant | Memphis, Arkansas | |
| Tyson Veidt | Toledo, 2014–15: linebackers coach; Iowa State, 2016–23: assistant head coach and linebackers coach; Penn State, 2026: linebackers coach | Bluffton | |
| Jim Hofher | Iowa State, 2016–17: passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Buffalo, Cornell | |
| Jeff Mills | Iowa State, 2021–25: senior quality control coach | New Mexico Highlands | |
| John Bonamego | Iowa State, 2022–23: senior special teams assistant | Central Michigan | |
| Terry Smith | Penn State, 2026: associate head coach and cornerbacks coach | Penn State |
Other assistants under him (15)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Mike Ward, Paul Nichols | Toledo, 2011: defensive coordinator | |
| Scott Isphording | Toledo, 2011: quarterbacks coach; 2012–13: quarterbacks coach, passing game coordinator and recruiting coordinator | |
| Steve Clinkscale | Toledo, 2011: cornerbacks coach and special teams coordinator | |
| D. K. McDonald | Toledo, 2012–15: cornerbacks coach; Iowa State, 2016–18: passing game coordinator and cornerbacks coach; 2019–20: passing game coordinator and safeties coach | |
| Tom Manning | Toledo, 2012–15: offensive line coach; Iowa State, 2016–17: offensive coordinator and offensive line coach; 2019: offensive coordinator and running backs coach; 2020: offensive coordinator and tight ends coach; 2021–22: offensive coordinator | |
| Louis Ayeni | Toledo, 2013–14: co-offensive coordinator | |
| Derek Sage | Toledo, 2014–15: wide receivers coach | |
| Taylor Mouser | Toledo, 2015: graduate assistant; Iowa State, 2016: graduate assistant; 2017–18: ADOS; 2019–20: sQC-Off; 2021–22: tight ends coach; 2023: tight ends coach and assistant head coach; 2024–25: offensive coordinator and tight ends coach; Penn State, 2026: offensive coordinator and tight ends coach | |
| Joel Gordon | Iowa State, 2016–17: offensive assistant; 2018: quarterbacks coach; 2019–22: passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Matt Caponi | Iowa State, 2019–22: cornerbacks coach | |
| Nathan Scheelhaase | Iowa State, 2023: offensive coordinator | |
| Tyler Roehl | Iowa State, 2024: assistant head coach and running backs coach | |
| Jake Landry | Iowa State, 2025: running backs coach; Penn State, 2026: senior offensive analyst | |
| D’Anton Lynn | Penn State, 2026: defensive coordinator | |
| Ikaika Malloe | Penn State, 2026: running game coordinator and defensive line coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Iowa State | head coachbonuses up to $1,000,000; buyout $9,575,000 | $2,100,000 USA Today | |
| 2016 | Iowa State | head coachbonuses up to $900,000 | $2,000,000 USA Today | |
| 2015 | Toledo | head coachbonuses up to $450,000; $137,500 in bonuses paid | $496,450 USA Today | |
| 2014 | Toledo | head coachbonuses up to $450,000 | $482,537 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Campbell’s teams went for it on 21% of fourth downs and on 36% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 50% of plays and took 25.4 seconds a play, 2011–2026.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 13 g | Toledo | 16 of 91 18% | 27% | 44% | 23.1 | +0.13 | |
| 2012 13 g | Toledo | 16 of 103 16% | 29% | 48% | 22.7 | +0.01 | |
| 2013 12 g | Toledo | 17 of 81 21% | 30% | 43% | 22.2 | +0.10 | |
| 2014 12 g | Toledo | 13 of 79 16% | 31% | 43% | 24.8 | +0.18 | |
| 2015 11 g | Toledo | 19 of 83 23% | 44% | 46% | 22.9 | +0.09 | |
| 2016 12 g | Iowa State | 23 of 96 24% | 43% | 50% | 24.3 | +0.05 | |
| 2017 13 g | Iowa State | 20 of 104 19% | 32% | 55% | 25.3 | +0.06 | |
| 2018 13 g | Iowa State | 18 of 95 19% | 26% | 47% | 26.3 | +0.04 | |
| 2019 13 g | Iowa State | 21 of 97 22% | 39% | 56% | 26.2 | +0.11 | |
| 2020 12 g | Iowa State | 16 of 82 20% | 36% | 47% | 28.2 | +0.15 | |
| 2021 12 g | Iowa State | 19 of 94 20% | 36% | 56% | 26.7 | +0.10 | |
| 2022 12 g | Iowa State | 26 of 104 25% | 37% | 59% | 25.9 | −0.04 | |
| 2023 13 g | Iowa State | 16 of 102 16% | 32% | 52% | 28.6 | +0.04 | |
| 2024 14 g | Iowa State | 25 of 105 24% | 47% | 50% | 26.4 | +0.10 | |
| 2025 12 g | Iowa State | 28 of 91 31% | 54% | 45% | 26.7 | +0.09 | |
| 2026 7 g | Penn State | 12 of 55 22% | 38% | 51% | 26.4 | +0.04 | |
| All 194 g | 305 of 1462 21% | 36% | 50% | 25.4 | +0.08 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.