USC Trojans D'Anton Lynn Big Ten's Best Defensive Coordinator?

Ahead of the college football season, the USC Trojans have been productive this offseason to prepare for their second year in the Big Ten. For defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn, it's his second year at both USC and the conference.

Lynn has been one of the most influential coaches for the Trojans, rapidly improving the USC defense that was once a weakness within the program. Lynn has developed some of the best defenses in his career, and he already has a good start with USC.

A recent ranking revealed the best defensive coordinators in the Big Ten ahead of this season, and Lynn was slotted in the top five.

In front of Lynn is Oregon's Tosh Lopui, Michigan's Wink Martindale, Penn State's Jim Knowles and Iowa's Phil Parker atop the list.

D'Anton Lynn USC Trojans Defensive Coordinator Lincoln Riley Rob Ryan Big Ten College Football Eric Gentry Kamari Ramsey — Nov 16, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley watches game action against the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the first half at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

In Lynn's first year leading the Trojans, he brought the points allowed per game total from 34.1 to 24.1 and their yard allowed per game total from 432.8 to 377.1. He boasts a talented defense that includes linebacker Eric Gentry, safety Kamari Ramsey and incoming freshman defensive lineman Jakheem Stewart.

Prior to joining the Trojans staff, Lynn spent time with the Houston Texans as their secondaries coach, two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens as their safeties coach, one year with UCLA as their defensive coordinator before his tenure began in South Central. Before Lynn arrived, the Trojans defensive unit was concerning -- but Lynn has given reassurance to fans that their is still room for improvement even after a breakthrough season.

During the offseason the Trojans added linebackers coach Rob Ryan to the staff to join Lynn on the sidelines. Like Lynn, Ryan has plenty of coaching experience and should fit in well with a talented group of linebackers with Gentry paving the way.

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The defensive mastermind believes that last season was a good start to build off entering year two in the Big Ten -- with strong potential coming for the trenches.

“We felt like this past year we did a good job of piecing together a Big Ten front seven, but we didn’t have Big Ten depth, and you need depth to play in the Big Ten every single week,” Lynn told the media at USC Football Media Day. “That’s one thing we feel like this year we have. We have more guys that we trust in playing the game.”

In 2024, the Trojans were bit by the injury bug. Gentry was out for a large portion of the season with a head injury, and Ramsey went down with a leg injury following the Wisconsin game. Coach Lincoln Riley recently assured Trojan fans that their roster is relatively healthy as fall camp continues.

Lynn emphasized the needed areas of improvement for the Trojans defensive unit before their season opener on Aug. 30.

“It opens up a lot, because now you can blitz when you want to,” Lynn continued. “You don’t feel like you have to blitz, and it allows you to invest more in your coverage. So that's something that was a big emphasis for us. Obviously, the first thing was stopping the run. You have to stop the run first to earn the right to rush, but stopping the run and affecting the quarterback has been a big emphasis. That's something we still need to continue to improve on.”

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