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Matt Campbell keeping Terry Smith on staff opens a path to next season’s CFP

Related Topics: Matt Campbell, Terry Smith

Penn State is retaining Terry Smith as an assistant after hiring Matt Campbell and that could keep a ton of talent in Happy Valley.

Penn State Nittany Lions interim head coach Terry Smith | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

As Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft’s search for James Franklin’s replacement dragged on late into this week, well beyond when every other major head coaching vacancy had been filled, it seemed that Kraft faced a conundrum. Give in to the push from the players, boosters, and fanbase, and remove the interim tag from Terry Smith, or stick to his guns, bring in an outside hire, and lose Smith, either to Franklin’s Virginia Tech staff or a head coaching job at UConn or Memphis.