As Penn State turns the page with Matt Campbell, the big question is whether he can top James Franklin at Happy Valley. Campbell seems to have kick-started the process by bringing his trusted Iowa State assistants with him, and now WR coach Noah Pauley is making noise by reconnecting with recruits that PSU lost under Franklin.
Khalil Taylor is one of them. After decommitting in October 2025, Taylor stayed on Campbell’s radar and showed up for a Junior Day visit on January 24, 2026. He praised the new staff, obviously. But also slipped in a subtle jab at Franklin’s era.
Advertisement
When asked about coach Pauley’s ability to develop receivers, Taylor couldn’t hide his excitement.
“It means a lot because, recently, Penn State hasn’t really developed wide receiving,” Taylor said to a reporter during his visit. “Coach Pauley is coming in, just changing it, the wide receiving business. It means a lot, and I’m willing to work.”
That’s a pretty bold thing to say about a coach who ran the program for 12 years. But the comparison didn’t come out of nowhere. A lot of it ties back to Noah Pauley’s résumé at Iowa State. His ceiling became obvious in 2024, when he helped develop Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel into one of the best WR duos in the country. They made history as the first Iowa State teammates to each post 1,000-yard receiving seasons.
Advertisement
Higgins recorded 87 catches for 1,183 yards and nine end-zone visits, while Noel added 80 catches for 1,194 yards and eight TDs. Both were picked by the Houston Texans in 2025, and Pauley was named FootballScoop’s National WR Coach of the Year. That production stands tall. Now flip it to Penn State under James Franklin, and the picture gets more complicated. There were clear highs, Jahan Dotson being a major one.
Dotson went in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft and left Penn State near the top of every major receiving category. DaeSean Hamilton was another success story. He set the school’s career receptions record and later became a fourth-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. But after those guys? That’s where things thinned out. The receiver room became a challenging issue with the depth being tested continuously. That’s why it forced Penn State to lean on the transfer portal to fill holes.
Plus, the constant coordinator changes (Donovan, Moorhead, Ciarrocca, Yurcich, Kotelnicki) made things much more complicated. Receivers were stuck understanding systems, and too often the personnel didn’t match the scheme. And then some moments were impossible to avoid.
The Orange Bowl against Notre Dame last January, where Penn State’s receivers finished with zero catches, showed the true picture. That’s the context Khalil Taylor knows.
Advertisement
All about Khalil Taylor
Khalil Taylor is a 2027 candidate out of Pine-Richland High School (PA). After transferring from Seton LaSalle, Taylor dealt with an eligibility dispute but was eventually cleared to play in the 2025–26 postseason. Penn State was the first one to extend him an offer. The Nittany Lions were one of the first major programs to offer him a scholarship back in 2023, when Taylor was still a freshman.
From there, the bond became better. Before his first commitment, Taylor became a regular in State College. He made between 8 and 13 visits as he improved his relationship with the staff. That effort paid off when Taylor committed to Penn State on March 29, 2025. At the time, he was a standout at Seton LaSalle and a key piece of a 2027 class ranked No. 1 nationally.
Terry Smith and former WR coach Marques Hagans led his recruitment. Taylor eventually decommitted after Franklin got fired. Matt Campbell quickly made it clear he wanted Taylor back at Beaver. PSU has since labeled him a “number one priority,” something Taylor himself openly revealed to reporters.
Advertisement
“The coaching staff came in and said that was a top priority, and they’ve been on me since day one,” he said. “They’ve been showing me a ton of love. They’ve been getting me out of school, and why not come back? I love it up here.”
Still, Taylor has not confirmed his commitment to Penn State. He still has a visit lined up with Georgia on January 31, 2026. He plans to return to Nebraska in the spring and continues to lean towards Syracuse, where he has a close connection with Fran Brown.
The post Ex-PSU Commit Throws Subtle Shade at James Franklin After Matt Campbell Triggers Second Thoughts appeared first on EssentiallySports.
