Nobody has reported that Penn State is firing Matt Campbell. This is what the term sheet guarantees: $62.5 million in pay for 2027 through 2033, before any offset for what he'd earn somewhere else.
Contract figures come from the term sheet Penn State released for Campbell, which is a summary and not the full employment agreement. The $62.5 million is Negadelphia's own addition of that sheet's guaranteed compensation for 2027 through 2033. It is before mitigation, it leaves out the retention bonuses, and it is not discounted for payment timing. The term sheet does not say whether "year" means calendar year or contract year, so treating 2026 pay as spent is our assumption. A firing before the 2026 contract year ends could exceed $62.5 million. "Up to" covers mitigation only. Game results and the season context come from USA Today's Paul Myerberg (Oct. 30, 2026). Opinion is labeled as opinion.
Nobody has reported that Penn State is going to fire Matt Campbell. He has coached seven games, and I found no report that Penn State is considering it.
USA Today's Paul Myerberg asked this morning whether Campbell is in trouble. This is what the contract says it would cost.
Penn State is 0-4 in the Big Ten. It lost to Wisconsin 24-20, Northwestern 34-13, USC 31-23 and Michigan 21-18. It was No. 16 in the preseason coaches poll, per USA Today, and it's in danger of missing a bowl game in a full season for the first time since 2004. Season-ticket holders at a stadium that's in the middle of a $700 million renovation could pay double or even triple for the same seats in 2027, also per USA Today.
The term sheet gives Campbell eight years starting Dec. 8, 2025. Guaranteed compensation, which the sheet defines as base salary plus supplemental compensation, is $8 million in 2026, $8.25 million in 2027 and $8.5 million in 2028. It's $9 million in both 2029 and 2030. Then it's $9.25 million in each of 2031, 2032 and 2033. The total is $70.5 million, which matches what SI reported when the deal came out.
The sheet's termination clause is one sentence: "If University terminates Coach, it will pay Coach 100% of the Guaranteed Compensation for the remainder of the employment agreement, subject to Coach's mitigation."
Take one season out. I'm treating the 2026 pay as spent, which leaves 2027 through 2033.
$8.25 million plus $8.5 million is $16.75 million. Add two years at $9 million and you're at $34.75 million. Add three years at $9.25 million, which is $27.75 million, and you land at $62.5 million. The shortcut agrees: $70.5 million minus the $8 million for 2026 is $62.5 million.
That number is not a bill, because "mitigation" usually means money Campbell earns elsewhere can cut what Penn State owes. Fox Rothschild's Pay or Play blog reads the clause as an offset, and notes the full employment agreement hasn't been released. The number doesn't include the $1 million per contract year retention bonus, because the termination clause covers guaranteed compensation and the term sheet doesn't say the bonus survives a firing. I haven't discounted anything for when the checks would go out, because the term sheet doesn't say. And the sheet doesn't say whether "year" means calendar year or contract year, so calling 2026 spent is my assumption. A firing before the 2026 contract year ends could cost more than $62.5 million. "Up to" covers mitigation only.
Nittany Central put the buyout at about $61.68 million on Oct. 4 and didn't show its method. I can't reproduce it. The gap is $820,000. I'm going with the number I can show you.
If Campbell leaves instead, the term sheet has him owing liquidated damages of $10 million for 2026, $8 million for 2027, $6 million for 2028, $4 million for 2029, $2 million for 2030 and $1 million for each of 2031 through 2033. The sheet doesn't say which year's figure would apply to a departure right after this season, so call it $8 million to $10 million.
Penn State's side is six to eight times larger: $62.5 million before mitigation against $8 million to $10 million. Opinion: that's an uneven exit. The school has the bigger number to eat, and it signed the deal after a 59-day coaching search, per USA Today.
It's year one of eight. Three of the four Big Ten losses came by eight points or fewer: 24-20, 31-23 and 21-18. Gerry DiNardo, the Big Ten Network analyst and former Indiana coach, told USA Today, "Do I think it's a coaching issue? No." His read is that the roster hasn't been built yet.
Long guarantees are normal at the top of the market. CBS Sports reported last October that most contracts among the 13 highest-paid coaches guarantee at least 85 percent of the remaining money, with some deals running as long as 10 years. Penn State gave James Franklin a 10-year deal in November 2021 and fired him last October, during a three-game losing streak that grew to six before the team rallied to bowl eligibility under an interim coach, per USA Today. Franklin is 6-2 at Virginia Tech, per USA Today. USA Today's Paul Myerberg reports that the search took 59 days and that, before Penn State landed Campbell, multiple established coaches used the opening to get lucrative contract extensions.
And there's an easy way to make this whole number irrelevant. Penn State is 3-4 with Purdue, Washington, Minnesota, Rutgers and Maryland left. Win three of those five and Penn State reaches six wins, the usual bowl-eligibility mark.
Nobody has reported a firing. The term sheet shows what one would cost: up to $62.5 million, before mitigation.
Richmond 79, Temple 53. The Spiders scored the first 14 points in a building Temple hadn't played in for four years, on the night it turned 100. One week after a 17-0 start, the Owls had as many turnovers as made field goals.
Halftime was 54-31. Final was 97-93. Penn State set a program free-throw record at 43 of 49 and still watched Anigbata's three cut it to one possession with under a second left. Credit the free throws. Do not hide the second half. Pitt is next.
Burton was the purchase: 42.5 percent on 76 threes at Stephen F. Austin. He led La Salle with 15 points and four threes in the Houston opener. Volume is not a clinic. Homecoming against LIU is where the bet has to look real at home.
Last year Temple beat George Mason in overtime. This year Turner goes for 21 with five threes on the road and the Owls lose by 20. Credit her night. Do not hide the boards or the score. Navy at home is the next read.
Comments
Loading comments...