Matt Campbell explains why Rocco Becht is the 'anchor' for Penn State in 2026

There is a specific reason Matt Campbell wanted to bring Rocco Becht to Penn State this offseason when the head coach took the job. Not only was Becht a good QB at Iowa State, but he was exactly the type of leader the Nittany Lions needed for a new era.

A “unifier” in the locker room, Becht has made a seamless transition to State College, according to Campbell. He’s proven it on the field but also in the locker room.

It’s the most important position in football, so naturally that needs to be priority No. 1 when building a team, or even retooling a team. Penn State got that locked down with Campbell and Becht.

“Yeah, I guess I’ve always believed that the head coach-quarterback relationship is so critical to the success of the football team,” Campbell said on Andy and Ari On3. “I feel like that veteran leadership, that voice in the locker room has to be aligned to what the head coaches believe … I think that’s one of the great joys that I’ve had coaching Rocco. 

Rocco Becht a ‘unifier’ at QB for Nittany Lions

“We went through a huge transition during our time at Iowa State, you know, the 4-8 season, Rocco was a redshirt freshman and was kind of the backup and played sparingly and redshirted to kind of flipping after that ‘22 season, really turning the tide again. And Rocco was an anchor to that, his leadership, his consistency, his grit, his toughness, and his ability to lead the football program the way that you would hope any selfless leader would, and be a unifier, be selfless, have the ability to bring others with you, and you know, I think Rocco did an incredible job of that.”

Becht didn’t have his best season statistically last year, but threw over 20 touchdowns and over 3,000 yards in the two years prior as a starter. Overall, he has 9,274 yards, 64 touchdowns, 27 interceptions and a 60.7% completion percentage.

“And for him to want to be here at Penn State, to want to be a part of this journey, you were just really grateful and humbled by his want to be that and want to do that,” Campbell said. “And I think he’s already done an incredible job of kind of bringing those selfless work ethics here and being a great unifier from, you know, the young men that stayed in this program from Penn State, and kind of unifying all the young men that came on our football team in January, that Rocco has been a great anchor for all of us.”