Head coach Matt Campbell has not even coached a game at the Penn State football team yet, but his early moves make it clear he plans to rebuild the Nittany Lions from the inside out. One of his first major steps was prying Derek Hoodjer away from Iowa State to serve as his personnel chief in State College.

Hoodjer, long viewed as Campbell’s behind-the-scenes “GM” in Ames, was central to the Cyclones’ ability to stack competitive, system-fit rosters without blue-blood resources. Bringing him to Penn State is a loud signal that roster building, evaluation, and long-term identity are going to be at the heart of Campbell’s tenure.

From there, Campbell turned directly to the high school ranks with a message tailor-made for Pennsylvania and the surrounding region. Speaking about his recrui

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