How D'Anton Lynn Plans to Reshape Penn State's Defense

D’Anton Lynn never had Penn State on his radar as a potential coaching destination. He said he was locked in as the defensive coordinator at USC toward the end of the 2025 season.

But then Matt Campbell called Lynn out of the blue regarding the defensive coordinator position at Penn State. Lynn said that conversation was great and he accepted the job in early January.

Lynn, who played cornerback for Penn State from 2008-11, enters his fourth season as a collegiate defensive coordinator. He also has significant NFL experience as he begins his second stint in Happy Valley.

“I'm super-excited about what we're going to do here,” Lynn said. “The more I talked with [Campbell] throughout the recruiting process, I guess he just kind of reminded me of why I came to Penn State. I just felt like, his values, the culture he had at Iowa State — I felt like if he was able to do that here, the sky’s the limit for a place like this.”

What Lynn plans to do with the defense

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Regarding his defense, Lynn said that he doesn’t have a set scheme to which he sticks no matter what. Instead, he’s focused on playing to his players’ strengths to field the best unit.

“We want to try and put these guys in the best position possible,” Lynn said. “Being here with the type of players that we have and the type of players that we're going to be able to recruit, we're going to be able to do different things and be able to get in different looks, have guys playing in different spots.”

Penn State transformed its roster this offseason, with 18 of the 40 transfers playing defense. Specifically on the defensive line, Lynn wanted size for the position, and Penn State added four defensive tackles from the transfer portal who are listed at 310 pounds or bigger. He said having more size on the line will help the rest of the defense.

“It really helps the second level with the inside backers,” Lynn said. “This helps keep them clean, and if they're not clean, those big guys should be getting off blocks and making the plays themselves.”

As Lynn works to develop his unit ahead of the 2026 season, he prioritizes teaching concepts over singular plays at a time. He said that if a player can learn a concept, it will help teach them multiple play calls.

Bringing NFL experience to the staff

"He knows how to coach football."

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Before becoming a defensive coordinator in college, Lynn spent time on numerous NFL staffs from 2014-22. He said his time as the safeties coach for the Baltimore Ravens in 2021-22 had a “huge influence” on his coaching style.

“Really just seeing how they taught their players, the defense, how they taught their guys and concepts, and how they had guys that could play multiple positions,” Lynn said. “That was the first team I was with that you really had guys playing multiple spots, and regardless of what happened, you felt like you were always able to have the best 11 out there.”

Lynn also credited then-Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Gus Bradley in 2017 and then-Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan in 2015-16 for helping him prepare for his first position coach job in the NFL, which was as assistant secondary coach for the Houston Texans.

“I just learned to be a better teacher,” Lynn said. “Really learned that you can't just be stuck in your scheme and how you do things. It's about the 11 guys on the field, so you have to be able to adapt your scheme around them.”

Inspiration from Tom Bradley

Penn State Nittany Lions cornerback D'Anton Lynn during the game against the Houston Cougars at Cotton Bowl Stadium. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

When Lynn was a cornerback for the Nittany Lions, Tom Bradley was his position coach and the Nittany Lions’ defensive coordinator. Bradley’s coaching style not only helped Lynn be a three-time All-Big Ten honorable mention but also helped him become a coach.

“It was nice because he was the DB Coach, obviously, but he's also the DC, so he kind of taught us the entire defense,” Lynn said. “You didn't just know what the DBs had. You understood what's going on up front, what's going on with the inside backers. I felt like we had a very high football IQ because of Scrap. So he definitely helped prepare me to coach, prepare me to play at the next level.”

Bradley was particularly available to Lynn when he made the jump to college coaching in 2023 as defensive coordinator for UCLA (Bradley held the same role from 2015-17). Lynn said they still call regularly as he continues his coaching career.

“[We] probably talk at least once a year,” Lynn said. “He's just someone, especially since I've been [coaching] in college, because the college game and landscape was a big adjustment, that I can call and just bounce ideas off.”

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