Matt Campbell (American football coach)

Matthew Allen Campbell (born November 29, 1979) is an American football coach who is the current head coach at Iowa State University. He was head coach at Toledo from 2011 to 2015. Prior to that, Campbell had been an assistant at Toledo, Bowling Green, and Mount Union. Campbell grew up in Ohio and briefly attended the University of Pittsburgh before transferring to Mount Union, where he played defensive line.

Playing career

Campbell was born in Massillon, Ohio. Rick, his father, coached football at Massillon Jackson High School. Matt played football at rival Massillon Perry, which won three conference championships while he was on the team. Campbell initially attended the University of Pittsburgh on a scholarship in 1998, but transferred to the University of Mount Union after a year. At Mount Union Campbell played on the defensive line between 1999–2002. At Mount Union Campbell played for head coach Larry Kehres, whose teams won three Division III championships during Campbell's career. Campbell himself was twice named to the College Football All-America Team and named Ohio Athletic Conference Defensive Lineman of the Year.

Coaching career

After college Campbell stayed within Ohio and took a job as a graduate assistant at Bowling Green State University from 2003–2004. While at Bowling Green Scott Pioli, then the director of player personnel for the New England Patriots, offered Campbell an interview for a job at the team, but Campbell declined. Campbell returned to Mount Union for 2005–2006 as offensive coordinator; Mount Union won the Division III championship both years. Campbell then went back to Bowling Green for two years, first as offensive line coach (2007) and then as offensive line coach/run game coordinator (2008). The University of Toledo hired him as the run game coordinator for the 2009 season. This move reunited him with head coach Tim Beckman, defensive coordinator at Bowling Green during Campbell's first stint there.

Toledo

Toledo promoted Campbell to offensive coordinator in 2010. Toledo made Campbell the permanent head coach at the end of 2011 when Beckman departed for the University of Illinois. He was 32 years old and the youngest head coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Two weeks into the job, Toledo defeated Air Force in the Military Bowl. Reportedly Campbell passed on a chance to serve on Urban Meyer's staff at Ohio State University. Campbell coached four full seasons at Toledo: 2012–2015, amassing a record of 35–15. The 2015 team peaked at No. 20 in the AP Poll, including a victory over Arkansas.

Iowa State

Iowa State University named Campbell its head coach on November 29, 2015, his 36th birthday, replacing the fired Paul Rhoads.

Head coaching record

Coaching tree

Assistant coaches under Matt Campbell who became NCAA head coaches:

• Jason Candle: Toledo (2016–present)