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Howie Roseman Helped Penn State Land Matt Campbell
By Kyle Pagan
Published:
Penn State fans can thank Howie Roseman for the Super Bowls and for helping to lure Matt Campbell to Happy Valley after Pat Kraft burned burned through every coaching prospect from here to Provo.
From Ralph D. Russo at The Athletic (with ads):
Campbell, who became a head coach for the first time at the age of 32 and directed the best years in Iowa State history, has always seemed destined to land a bigger job, but he has been in no rush to jump at just anything. He has drawn interest from NFL teams, could have been the USC coach had Lincoln Riley not become available and passed on overtures from Washington and North Carolina in recent years, among others.
(Pat) Kraft and Campbell spoke for the first time on the night of Dec. 3. The next day, Campbell spoke with (university president Neeli) Bendapudi over a video call. Kraft went to visit Campbell in Ames, Iowa, that night.
Meanwhile, endorsements were coming in. Sources say former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, now the Lt. Governor of Ohio, spoke to Bendapudi about Campbell. So did Eagles executive vice president Howie Roseman, whose own coach, Nick Sirianni, played with Campbell at Division III power Mount Union.
Not terrible to have a National Championship-winning head coach and multiple Super Bowl-winning executive as references.
I’m going to be in quite the predicament if Campbell leads the Nittany Lions to a National Championship and the greatest GM of my lifetime was directly involved. What a kick in the dick that’d be. I guess the only thing that would make up for it is another Super Bowl. Ho hum. Then again, are we sure this guy isn’t just James Franklin with a little more hair?
I’m just saying! (Kinkead: more on that here)
And shout out to good guy Howie not harboring any sort of grudge after the former Penn State coach almost got the Birds in trouble for tampering with Saquon Barkley (Tim McManus at ESPN.com) –
The Philadelphia Eagles have denied impermissible contact between general manager Howie Roseman and running back Saquon Barkley during the negotiating window before the start of free agency.
Barkley, a Penn State alum and Pennsylvania native, agreed to terms with the Eagles on a three-year, $37.75 million contract that includes $26 million fully guaranteed at signing. His former coach at Penn State, James Franklin, suggested Roseman spoke to Barkley directly during the “legal tampering” period, which is not allowed.
Said Franklin: “For him now to come back and be able to play within the state, in Philadelphia, he said that was one of the first things that Howie said to him on the phone as part of his sales pitch to him was not only the Philadelphia Eagles and that but obviously the connection with Penn State and the fan base as well.”
Teams are not allowed to talk directly to players during the negotiating window unless the player represents himself. An Eagles spokesperson said that all recruiting done by the team is facilitated through the agent.
Kyle writes blog posts and does Man on the Street-style videos all around Philadelphia. He graduated from Temple University (a basketball school) in 2015. contact: k.pagan@sportradar.com