Three-time Big 12 Coach of the Year Matt Campbell is locked in with Iowa State. The schoolfinalized a contract extension with the winningest coach in program history, keeping him on board through the 2032 season, ESPN’s Max Olson reports. Campbell will make $5 million per year and reportedly agreed to take a discount on his new deal to pave the way for an increased assistant salary pool and to allow Iowa State to set aside an additional $1 million in revenue sharing money.
According to USA Today’s coach salary database, the $5 million figure would have made Campbell the 42nd-highest paid coach in college football last season, tied with ex-North Carolina coach Mack Brown. It is a substantial bump from the $4 million Campbell made last year, which ranked 53rd nationally.
The extension and pay raise is a timely one. It capitalizes on the success Campbell delivered last fall in what was by far the best season in Iowa State history. The 11 wins marked the first time the Cyclones ever cracked the double-digit win mark, they returned to the Big 12 Championship Game for the first time since 2020 and their No. 15 ranking in the final AP Top 25 was their second-highest finish to date.
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Iowa State was just one win away last season from making its College Football Playoff debut but lost to Arizona State with the Big 12 crown on the line. With Campbell remaining at the helm and a significant amount of roster continuity, the Cyclones could contend again for the Big 12 title and a CFP berth in 2025.
Campbell has been a reported candidate for numerous jobs throughout his Iowa State career but each time stayed with his program in Ames. Most recently, he drew interest from the Chicago Bears this offseason before the franchise hired Ben Johnson.
Campbell arrived at Iowa State in 2016 and needed just two seasons to turn a longtime Big 12 bottom dweller program into a perennial top 25 operation. He won at least seven games in seven of his first nine years at the helm and appeared in the AP Top 25 five straight years from 2017 to 2021, which was the longest such streak in school history. In all, Campbell is 64-51 as Iowa State’s coach.
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