CAMPBELL NAMED HEAD FOOTBALL COACH

December 12, 2011 - It certainly didn't take Mike O'Brien long to name a new head football coach. Just four days after Tim Beckman accepted the head coaching position at Illinois, O'Brien named Matt Campbell as UT's next head man.

"We are very pleased that Matt Campbell has agreed to become the head football coach at the University of Toledo," said the UT Athletic Director. "There is no doubt that Matt has done a terrific job in his three years as our offensive coordinator. The performance of our offense speaks for itself. But I have also been very impressed with Matt as a person and as a leader of young men. He is quite simply a very exceptional football coach, and I believe the best person to lead this program going forward. We are very excited for the future of Rocket football under Matt's guidance."

Campbell, 32, is in his third season as the Rockets' offensive coordinator, and also is responsible for coaching the offensive line. Under Campbell's guidance, the Rockets rank eighth in the nation in total offense (493.2) and scoring offense (42.3) this season, as well as third in fewest turnovers (12). He also mentored an offensive line that ranks sixth in the nation with just nine sacks allowed this season. The Rockets' offense features one of the most exciting players in the country, junior wide receiver Eric Page. Page ranks third in the nation in receptions with 112 and is a finalist for the Paul Hornung Award as the nation's most versatile player. He made first-team All-MAC at  three positions: wide receiver, punt returner and kickoff returner.

One of his offensive linemen, redshirt freshman Greg Mancz (Cincinnati, OH), was recently named to the first-team Freshman All-America team by Yahoo! Sports. He is the only player from the Mid-American Conference to make Yahoo's Freshman All-America team.

"I'm honored to become the next head football coach at the University of Toledo," said Campbell. "I would like to thank Mike O'Brien and President Lloyd Jacobs for giving me this opportunity. I would also like to thank Tim Beckman, the Rocket coaching staff and most of all the young men on this football team who have helped me reach my goal of becoming a head football coach. Finally, I would like to thank my parents and my wife, Erica, for all their love and support in helping make this day possible."

Campbell has earned national attention for his recruiting, as well. Rivals.com named him a "top recruiter" in 2011. Campbell was one of nine coaches from non-automatic qualifying schools in the BCS to make the list, and the only one from the Mid-American Conference. Toledo's 2011 recruiting class was ranked No. 1 in the MAC by both Scout.com and Rivals.com.

"I'm looking forward to the work ahead of us," Campbell said. "We have an important bowl game to play on Dec. 28, as well as a recruiting class to sign and a coaching staff to hire. But most of all we need to get to work on our ultimate goal of bringing a MAC championship back to Toledo."

Prior to his service at UT, Campbell served as an assistant coach at Bowling Green for two seasons, one as the offensive line coach (2007) and one as the offensive line coach/running game coordinator (2008). He began his coaching career as the offensive graduate assistant at Bowling Green in 2003 and 2004. He then spent two years as the offensive coordinator/offensive line coach at Mount Union.

Campbell, a 2002 graduate of Mount Union, was a member of five national championship teams as a coach and player for the Purple Raiders. He was a two-time first-team All-American and was voted as the Ohio Athletic Conference's Best Defensive Lineman in 2001 and 2002. He was a vital member of three MUC teams which won national titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002. During his career at Mount Union, Campbell earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors. In his final two years of his stay at Mount Union, Campbell was the offensive coordinator on a team that won back-to-back national titles.

He signed a five-year contract with a base salary of $235,000, plus $125,000 in guaranteed marketing compensation and other incentives.