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Penn State, Matt Campbell Poach Top Defensive Coordinator From a Big Ten Foe

It's a homecoming for D'Anton Lynn, who spent four years in Happy Valley as a player.

Tim Capurso

Lynn spent the last two seasons working as USC's defensive coordinator.
Lynn spent the last two seasons working as USC's defensive coordinator. / Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images
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Penn State has officially found its new defensive play-caller, as the program on Friday made the hiring of D'Anton Lynn official. It's a homecoming for Lynn, who appeared in 47 games across four seasons for the Nittany Lions as a player from 2008 to 2011. For the past two seasons, Lynn served as the defensive coordinator for the Big Ten-rival USC Trojans, where he proved himself one of the best defensive play-callers in the nation.

Hired by Trojans coach Lincoln Riley to help invigorate a struggling USC defense, Lynn was more than up to the task, as the Trojans defense yielded just 24.1 points per game to opponents in 2024, an improvement over the previous season when the unit gave up 34.4 points a game. Experienced in turnarounds, Lynn also revitalized UCLA's defense during his lone season with the Bruins, turning a unit that ranked just 87th in the country into a top-10 defense. In addition to his experience at the collegiate level, Lynn also possesses nine years of experience as an assistant coach in the NFL.

Lynn inherits a Penn State defense that placed 26th in total yards allowed per game and 32nd in points allowed per contest, though there could be some new faces on all three levels for the unit, given the roster turnover that the Nittany Lions have seen via the transfer portal. Penn State is coming off of a disappointing 7-6 season that resulted in the firing of coach James Franklin, who spent 12 seasons as leader of the program. Penn State head coach Matt Campbell, who coached Iowa State for 10 years, has already announced that interim coach Terry Smith would be returning as part of his staff after Smith shepherded the Nittany Lions to a 4-3 record, including a 22-10 win over Clemson in the Pinstripe Bowl.

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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