Terry Smith wasn’t hesitant about staying on the Penn State football coaching staff, especially after agreeing to a lucrative four-year contract and learning he’d be working for Matt Campbell.
They’ve known each other since 2011 when Campbell was the 32-year-old head coach at Toledo and Smith was the head coach at Gateway High School in Pittsburgh.
“I know what he’s about,” Smith said Tuesday during a Pinstripe Bowl press conference. “At this point in my career I truly can only work for certain types of individuals. We’re aligned at the point of he’s blue-collar. He creates toughness, discipline and the core values of what Penn State represents.”
It’s unclear exactly what Smith’s role will be on Campbell’s staff, but he will coach the Nittany Lions (6-6) against Clemson (7-5) in the Pinstripe Bowl Dec. 27 at Yankee Stadium.
Smith has served as interim head coach since director of athletics Pat Kraft fired James Franklin on Oct. 12 after a 3-3 start and three straight losses to Oregon, UCLA and Northwestern.
He has guided Penn State to a 3-3 record, including consecutive wins over Michigan State, Nebraska and Rutgers to finish the regular season.
“This has been the greatest seven weeks of my coaching career,” Smith said. “The opportunity to represent my alma mater and sit at the very top of it to try to salvage a season that didn’t start off the way we wanted, it was a tremendous opportunity for me.
“I can’t be thankful enough of our guys, our leadership in the locker room. They allowed me to lead them. It turned out to be a better ending than how the season started.”
The 46-year-old Campbell was officially hired Monday as the new Penn State head coach. He spent the last 10 seasons at Iowa State, where he guided the Cyclones to a 72-55 record and their first two top-15 finishes in the polls.
Campbell addressed the Penn State players shortly after his introductory press conference Monday. He said he planned to talk with the assistant coaches and analysts before he makes any decisions regarding the staff.
Derek Hoodjer, Iowa State’s assistant athletic director for football player personnel, has already joined Campbell as Penn State football’s new general manager.
“I met with Matt and his staff that has already come to Penn State last night,” Smith said. “We went through the entire roster. We discussed the entire staff and auxiliary staff.
“He’s starting today (Tuesday) to meet with all the staff. Then in the next few days he’s going to meet with each individual on the team. Then he’ll start to make some decisions.”
ESPN reported Tuesday that Penn State tight ends coach Ty Howle will be hired as the new offensive coordinator at Virginia Tech for Franklin.
Taylor Mouser was the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach for Campbell at Iowa State. Longtime assistant Jon Heacock was the defensive coordinator.
It was uncertain how many current Lions assistant coaches that Campbell might keep.
The 56-year-old Smith openly campaigned to be named Penn State’s permanent coach. He played wide receiver for the Lions from 1988-91 and has been on the coaching staff since 2014, Franklin’s first season.
Kraft described Campbell’s decision to keep Smith “a no-brainer.”
“Terry’s leadership, his ability to hold the locker room together, his ability to be very honest and transparent with the players,” Kraft said, “all of that really helped us to get to where we are today in a really, really good spot.
“I’m very grateful for what Terry was able to do.”
Smith’s new contract at Penn State reportedly made him the highest-paid non-coordinator in college football and eased the disappointment if he felt slighted.
“Pat continued to have open communication,” Smith said. “We had direct conversations. It was full transparency. I felt really, really good with the choice. I felt really, really good with how I was approached about it.
“I was able to move forward staying at Penn State. We were all on the same page.”
