Penn State players are encouraged by their first impressions of new coach Matt Campbell

Trebor Peña has advice for his younger teammates who must decide soon whether to stay at Penn State and play for new coach Matt Campbell or look for opportunities elsewhere.

The senior receiver transferred to Penn State in May after experiencing Syracuse’s transition from coach Dino Babers to Fran Brown two seasons ago. He knows how tough the process can be on players who might feel like they’re starting over from scratch.

“Ultimately, you’ve got to earn the respect of the new staff again,” Peña said. “They’re going to want to bring in their own recruits and transfers and players from their old team, but ultimately it’s about Penn State and playing for this school and something bigger than yourself. I would say give them a chance and be ready to work.”

Peña is one of about 22 Nittany Lions who are out of eligibility, while two players as of Wednesday — defensive back Elliot Washington and tight end Joey Schlaffer — announced they are entering the transfer portal, which officially opens Jan. 2.

Meanwhile, the rest of the roster is not only preparing for the Pinstripe Bowl against Clemson on Dec. 27 but also getting to know Campbell and the coaches he’s already brought over from Iowa State, including offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser, offensive line coach Ryan Clanton and secondary coach Deon Broomfield.

Penn State has not yet announced the hires, but each coach is listed in the university’s personnel directory with specific job titles matching their responsibilities.

“He seems like a great guy,” senior linebacker Dom DeLuca said of Campbell. “I’m excited to see what he does here for the program. Just really trying to get to know him was awesome. He seems like he’s really helping trying to do whatever he can to help the players achieve their goals.”

That’s what redshirt freshman quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer took away from his multiple meetings so far with Campbell.

“What stands out is his culture and how he develops quarterbacks, obviously (current NFL starter) Brock Purdy and what not,” Grunkemeyer said. “I think just from the visits and seeing how he cares for his players always stuck out to me from watching their games in high school and seeing how he interacts with them.”

Shortly after Campbell was introduced last week as Penn State’s 17th head coach, he sought out every player on the roster, wondering what worked for them, what didn’t and how he could help them move forward.

“It was a great conversation,” junior safety King Mack said. “He’s very honest. He’s straightforward. He sees where we went wrong this year and his job is to one, get it fixed as soon as possible and to use all the seniors as one big group to help us fix all those issues as well.”

Campbell’s meeting with Grunkemeyer was not an ice-breaking session. The two were familiar with each other after Campbell recruited the former Ohio high school star for Iowa State.

Grunkemeyer made an official visit to the Cyclones and attended a football camp and a game at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames. The Cyclones had filled their quarterback quota by the time Grunkemeyer was ready to commit to a program, however.

Grunkemeyer, who completed 92 of 133 passes for 974 with five touchdowns and four interceptions over his six-game stretch as the starter, said he wants to remain a starter. He feels like he showed he could run the offense efficiently in the six-game sample size that saw Penn State go 3-3 and nearly knock off unbeaten Indiana at home.

While he said he hasn’t decided to transfer or stay, Grunkemeyer said his chats with Mouser and incoming quarterbacks coach Jake Waters have been good.

“They obviously do some really good stuff on offense, so I’m excited about that and I like the type of people they are and how they carry themselves and what they’ve done so far since they’ve come in,” Grunkemeyer said.