Matt Campbell’s Midwestern Ties are Helping Penn State

Originally posted on Mike Farrell Sports
By Mark Pszonak | Last updated Apr 13, 2026 4:08 PM ET

When thinking about Penn State high school recruiting, the states of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey most often come to mind. But with new head coach Matt Campbell now in charge of the program, recruiting has taken a turn to the Midwest.

While three of Penn State’s seven current verbal commitments come from the above-mentioned states, three others are from non-traditional areas.

First to make his decision was four-star Landon Blum from Woodbine, Iowa. The top recruit from Iowa, Blum is a 6-foot-4, 200-pound wide receiver who committed to the Nittany Lions on April 4^th. A week later, he was joined by linebacker Blake Betton, who is a three-star from Shakopee, Minnesota.

And on Monday, another piece of the Midwest puzzle was added when four-star tight end Cooper Terwilliger from Pierre, South Dakota committed.

Blum and Terwilliger were offered by Coach Campbell when he was at Iowa State. He had long established relationships with the players and their families, which greatly helped Penn State’s chances after his move to Happy Valley. While NIL is obviously important in recruiting, relationships still do matter.

As for Betton, he wasn’t offered by Coach Campbell until he arrived at Penn State. However, he quickly became a priority, and after a second unofficial visit to Happy Valley, he gave his commitment over other Big Ten offers from Michigan, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Illinois and Iowa.

Penn State successfully went deep into Big Ten territory and came out victorious. While it has only been three players, this is something that the Midwest programs in the conference need to take note of. Especially since there are several other recruits who Coach Campbell has targeted and is doing very well with.

Players like offensive lineman Will Slagle (Grinnell, Iowa), athlete Cooper Ohnmacht (Great Bend, Kansas), cornerback Kei’Shjuan Telfair (Euclid, Ohio), are all worth watching. Penn State is favored with all three, while Slagle was once committed to Iowa State before reopening his process. There are others and there will be more.

This isn’t to say that Penn State will focus on Midwest high school recruiting from this point on, but while Coach Campbell’s relationships are still warm, there is no reason for him not to take advantage of them.

A new head coach always brings about change, but not many expected this change to result in Penn State becoming a recruiting powerhouse in Iowa, South Dakota and Kansas. But here we are.

This article first appeared on Mike Farrell Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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