Get to Know Penn State Linebacker Caleb Bacon

Linebacker Caleb Bacon’s college career has been a long one filled with twists and turns, which have brought him to Penn State for his sixth and final season.

Bacon, originally from the small town of Lake Mills, Iowa, was unranked as a recruit in the 2021 class. To play at the next level, his options included Division III ball or NAIA schools — until general manager Derek Hoodjer came in with a late offer as a preferred walk-on at Iowa State.

After a strong 2023 regular season which included 52 tackles and three sacks, Bacon was officially put on scholarship during a team meeting ahead of the Liberty Bowl against Memphis. In that game, he added eight tackles to his season total.

“To hear my name called as a guy going on scholarship and just see how happy my teammates were and embraced me, that was really cool,” Bacon said. “I called my parents after; they were pretty emotional.”

Injury sidelined him for the entire 2024 campaign, but Bacon bounced back with 68 tackles and three sacks last fall, establishing himself as a key member of the Cyclones’ defense. When head coach Matt Campbell left for Penn State, Bacon entered the portal and followed.

“He’s a coach that I’ve been with for the last five years,” Bacon said. “He gave me a scholarship, gave me a chance to walk on originally to Iowa State. Just being able to trust who he is as a person, it made my decision pretty easy.”

The former no-star recruit ranked as a four-star and the No. 4 transfer linebacker by 247Sports, validating Hoodjer’s offer from years prior.

Though Campbell, Hoodjer, Bacon and several other Cyclone linebackers are now at Penn State, they’ll be working with a new defensive coordinator — D’Anton Lynn. Bacon sees himself fitting seamlessly into Lynn’s scheme, which utilizes large defensive linemen up front to get offensive linemen off the ball and free up the linebackers to make tackles.

“I feel like I have an intuition to get to the ball. I like to fly around,” Bacon said. “I think coach Lynn’s defense is gonna be perfect for that …  I think that’s really what I am, a high-energy guy. I like to go out there, I like to hit. I’m just super excited for the season coming up.”

Off the field, Bacon has been embraced by returning linebackers Tony Rojas, Alex Tatsch and Cam Smith, and he’s even formed an unlikely friendship with long snapper Blaise Sokach-Minnick.

“Building relationships was the biggest difference for me, just being at a place so long and then transitioning,” Bacon said. “The more you get to know them, the more you find out they’re more like you than you think.”