USC Trojans defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn could be a top candidate to become Matt Campbell's first defensive coordinator at Penn State. (Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images)
Matt Campbell has made his first significant hire as Penn State Football’s head coach. Jon Sauber of Centre Daily Times reported that Penn State is set to hire D’Anton Lynn as their Defensive Coordinator.
Lynn has been the coordinator at USC for the past two years. He has led the Trojan defense to a huge turnaround upon arrival. In 2024, they allowed 24 points per game, and in 2025 they improved to 22 points per game.
Here are 3 things about D’Anton Lynn.
The Return of a Letterman: D’Anton Lynn Comes Home
The fact that Lynn played in Happy Valley makes this hire make a lot of sense.
Playing Defensive Back from 2008-2011, Lynn put up solid numbers in the Blue and White.
His best year was his sophomore season in which he logged 75 tackles and 3 interceptions. In total, Lynn was responsible for 159 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, and 4 interceptions during his Penn State career.
Following Penn State, Lynn had a brief stint with the Jets as an undrafted free agent before having an even briefer stint in the Canadian Football League before launching his coaching career.
Lynn worked his way through the ranks mostly as an NFL position coach before landing a job as UCLA’s defensive coordinator in 2023. In 202,4 he went to USC, and now he is primed to head back to his alma mater to run the defense.
The Multiple Scheme: What “3-4 Base” Means for Penn State
Lynn’s base defense is a 3-4. Meaning there are three hand-in-dirt defensive lineman and then four Linebackers or pseudo edge rushers. While this is Lynn’s base, he offers a variety of different formations.
The Nickel Revolution: Aggressive Blitzing and Versatility
Lynn loves to use the Nickel package. He often asks his nickelback to cover a Wide Receiver, Tight End, and even come put their face in the fan and stop the run. Additionally, Lynn is very aggressive at calling blitzes from a Nickel package. That is another highlight of his defenses.
While Lynn is not nearly as aggressive of a coordinator as Manny Diaz is, he is probably more aggressive than Jim Knowles.
It seems like a mesh of those 2 defenses stylistically. I’m sure Matt Campbell will make his own tweaks to the defense, but Lynn’s defense is aggressive and multiple.
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Retaining the Pride: Why the Lynn Hire Impacts the 2026 Roster
The final thing on D’Anton Lynn is that Matt Campbell made a terrific hire.
Getting Lynn is widely viewed as a big win.
Whether Campbell was pulling the strings, or Kraft was involved, or somewhere between, this is a good hire.
Lynn knows the Penn State culture and has rave reviews among football coaches. The Nittany Lions hope that this will help in their efforts to retain guys like Tony Rojas, Max Granville, Amare Campbell, and several others.
However, as I’m sure Penn State fans remember with Jim Knowles, a homerun hire is not a guarentee. Lynn will still have to prove that he is a rising star when he gets to Happy Valley.
5 Penn State Pinstripe Bowl Standouts Matt Campbell Must Prioritize Retaining for 2026
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Ian Purdy covers Penn State Football Recruiting for NittanyCentral.
Purdy was born and raised in central Ohio and served for four years writing for his high school's newsletter. Currently studying Biblical Studies at Lancaster Bible College in Pennsylvania, Ian has been a lifelong Nittany Lion fan.
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