Matt Campbell’s first order of business? Learning what went right, wrong at Penn State this season

‘If you don’t wanna be here, the door is open’

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State safety King Mack was confused when his parents called and told him they heard the audio of the meeting Mack and other Nittany Lion team leaders had with athletic director Pat Kraft.

The meeting, held the week of Penn State’s regular season finale against Rutgers, was meant to be a private, open and honest conversation about this team, PSU’s shortcomings this season and what the next head coach needs to fix moving forward. Someone in the room secretly recorded the meeting and leaked the audio of the conversation. It went viral while Penn State was in the final stages of hiring head coach Matt Campbell.

“A meeting like that should have never been broadcasted, honestly,” Mack said Wednesday during a media availability ahead of the Pinstripe Bowl on Dec 27. “That shows the lack of leadership and accountability.”

That meeting and making it public speaks to part of what was wrong with this team this season. A group that was expected to contend for a national championship instead went 6-6 and head coach James Franklin was fired in October. By December, Campbell is evaluating the roster and the culture that’s in place here. The on-field shortcomings were noticeable this season, but a private meeting being shared publicly by someone in the room speaks to another issue that Campbell must address.