Penn State's D'Anton Lynn Draws Early Raves During Spring Drills

STATE COLLEGE | Penn State defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn has been impressing coaches and players since he joined the program in December. In particular, with his teaching methods. Penn State head coach Matt Campbell praised Lynn by saying that the way teaches his athletes is “one of the great gifts that he has.”

“Lynn has been exceptional,” Nittany Lions cornerbacks coach Terry Smith said Tuesday after spring practice No. 4. “He's one of the better coordinators I've been around. He has a core fundamental of teaching, from the drills to the techniques to all the fundamentals of every position on a defense, and then installing the scheme. Just understanding why we're doing what we're doing. He's been exceptional. He's as good as they come.”

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Lynn spent the last three seasons as defensive coordinator with UCLA (one year) and USC (two) before joining his alma mater. A three-time All-Big Ten cornerback with the Nittany Lions, Lynn spent nine years coaching in the NFL with five different franchises before his switch to college football.

When he made that move, Lynn saw results immediately. He brought the UCLA defense from sixth-worst in scoring in the Pac-12 at 29 points per game in 2022 to No. 2 (18.4) in 2023.

That stemmed from improvements in passing yards allowed per game (273/220.8), rushing yards allowed per game (130.3/80.8) and yards allowed per play (5.6/4.6). All while forcing the second-most turnovers in the conference (1.8 per game). And he did all of that in his first year as defensive coordinator.

“What was so impressive to me through the interview process is just his ability to articulate what he wants out of the defense, what the expectations are,” Campbell said. “He's a great holistic teacher. Obviously his time in the National Football League makes you do that. Your time restrictions are so short in that league that, [so] you’ve got to be a great communicator and a great teacher.”

Campbell added, “That's been the fun thing to watch him, number one, align the coaching staff on verbiage, communication, everybody's speaking the same language. That's where coaching has got to start. And then to watch that coaching staff start to implement what the defense needs to look like. What are the standards? How are we communicating through everything? And I think they've done an unbelievable job.”

Upon arriving at Penn State, Lynn made communication a cornerstone of his installation process. In his first defensive meeting, Lynn coined the term “obnoxious communication” to describe what he wants.

“That was one of the first coaching points that he talked about; his expectation of how he wants the defense to operate,” Penn State safeties coach Deon Broomfield said. “That’s the key point of what we’re trying to get down right now, whether it’s through walkthroughs or runthroughs or in the meeting room. He’s asking guys to communicate so they understand the importance of it. You don’t want anybody to assume. When you over-emphasize, it eliminates the gray area.”

‘It’s simple but complex’

Tom Bradley was D’Anton Lynn’s position coach & defensive coordinator at Penn State. Now the PSU DC himself, Lynn discusses the impact “Scrap” had on him. pic.twitter.com/fGcRemAADO
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Lynn and the Nittany Lions are trying to make a Bruins-like turnaround defensively. However, unlike last year under former Penn State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, the Nittany Lions are learning Lynn’s scheme more slowly.

"It's simple but complex. Simple in his teachings,” Smith said of Lynn’s scheme. “The Cover 3 drops are all the same in all the Cover 3s, but then we can have different people in different roles. It’s been challenging for the guys, but they're picking it up. It's going to allow our playmakers to make plays at the end of the day. We are just on defense. We’ve got to minimize explosive plays, keep the ball in front of us, and get it on the ground.”

Smith said the coaches implementing the scheme at a slower pace has helped players absorb it a “little bit better.” But that isn’t the only difference in coaching styles between Lynn and Knowles.

“Yeah, he teaches a lot,” rising sophomore cornerback Jahmir Joseph said of Lynn. “It's very different from last year, but it's like he's very detail-oriented, and we're going day by day, and everything's been going good. ... We're not rushing with everything, just taking things day by day. So it helps you focus more on the main thing than going down the line and just getting distracted and stuff.”

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