Toledo coach Matt Campbell front-runner to be Iowa State head coach

Toledo head coach Matt Campbell has emerged as the front-runner for Iowa State’s head coach vacency and a deal is expected in the next 48 hours, according to sources.

Toledo head coach Matt Campbell has emerged as the front-runner for Iowa State’s head coach vacancy and a deal is expected in the next 48 hours, according to sources.

Multiple interviews scheduled for other Iowa State candidates have been cancelled, per the sources.

Campbell would take over the Cyclones, who are 3–8 this season with a 2–6 record in Big 12 play. Iowa State fired Paul Rhoads last week but allowed him to coach in the Cyclones’ final game of the season against West Virginia on Saturday.

Campbell spent four years as Toledo’s coach, going 35–15, including a 9–2 record this season. The Rockets tied for first in the MAC West Division for the second straight year this season and have won nine games in three of Campbell’s four seasons.

The 35-year-old Campbell first joined Toledo’s program in 2009 as the run game coordinator and offensive line coach. He took on offensive coordinator duties in ’10 and assumed the head coaching role for the Rockets’ bowl game in ’11 after Tim Beckman left to coach Illinois. Campbell led Toledo to a Military Bowl victory to close out that season.

He would replace for Rhoads, who went 32–54 in nearly seven seasons at Iowa State. The Cyclones have won just eight games over the past three seasons and failed to win a conference game last year.