The Penn State Players Campbell Kept — And Why They're About to Matter

New Penn State head coach Matt Campbell and his staff made some hard choices this offseason. They needed to sort through two distinct rosters and blend them into a cohesive football team in 2026. Some of those choices were obvious, but others were not. Today, we’ll be looking at the players Campbell and his staff chose to retain from the old Penn State roster. Which of those players is in line for an increased role this year? We’ll be counting down the most important players the team retained this offseason who weren’t already starters. Plus, we’ll have an interview with On3’s Andy Staples to discuss the team.

Join the BWI Live Show today at 10 a.m on YouTube to discuss those topics and more! We’ll also give you a quick recruiting update and discuss what’s on your mind with the BWI Mailbag! Subscribe to the Blue White Illustrated YouTube Channel right now and enable notifications so you don’t miss any content, including interviews, commitment videos and more!

Penn State players who will step into bigger roles this year

Penn State fans are understandably still more attached to the players that Campbell and his staff retained than the new players they brought to the program this offseason. Of those retained players, who will finally step into bigger roles this offseason? Today, we’ll discuss the players we think will follow the traditional pattern of recruit, to underclassmen to impact starters this Fall. Senior Editor Nate Bauer discussed this topic over the weekend on the site, and today on the show, we’ll each give our top three players we think are in line for a major upgrade this Fall.

Fitz’s recruiting Update

Next, we’ll discuss the latest Penn State football recruiting news that has popped up over the weekend. The team has a big decision coming tonight with four-star running back Aiden Gibson making his college decision. Will the Nittany Lions land him as the top running back in this class? We’ll discuss. Fitz will also outline the latest intel regarding other recruits making news since our last live show.

BWI Mailbag and Andy Staples conversation

Finally, we’ll hear from you! Join the show live at 10 a.m. to ask your questions in the BWI Mailbag. We’ll discuss featured questions from the website during the BWI Mailbag. Want to have your question featured? Join the site right now for just one dollar to get access to our premium content and message board for just one dollar to try us out!

Finally, On3’s Andy Staples stops by to discuss his thoughts on Penn State and the team’s transition to Matt Campbell. What does he think of the roster? We discuss the offense and other big-picture topics like an expanded 24-team playoff.