Updated 2:15 p.m. Dec. 29.
Former Nittany Lion cornerback D’Anton Lynn — who has been the defensive coordinator at both Southern California and UCLA — is returning to his alma mater to serve as the D-coordinator for new Penn State head coach Matt Campbell, StateCollege.com has confirmed and numerous outlets have reported.
The hiring of Lynn as the DC was a drawn-out process, complicated by the economics, terms and pay-out responsibilities of handling the buyout of Lynn’s contract with USC, which was extended in January 2025, after his first season with the Trojans.
USC (9-3) will face TCU (8-4) on Tuesday night in the Valero Alamo Bowl. Penn State wrapped up its 2025 season with a 22-10 victory over Clemson in the Pinstripe Bowl. The Nittany Lions won their last four games under interim head coach Terry Smith to finish 7-6.
Lynn, who was in Year 2 with USC after serving as UCLA’s defensive coordinator in 2023, was pursued last offseason by former Penn State head coach James Franklin to be the Nittany Lions’ DC. Lynn turned down the offer, so Franklin hired Ohio State DC Jim Knowles, signing him to the largest contract ever in college football history for a coordinator, at three years for $9.3 million.
Under Knowles, the 6-6 Nittany Lions’ defense gave up 42 points against UCLA, 38 to Ohio State and 36 to Rutgers. Knowles was named the defensive coordinator of the Tennessee Volunteers on Thursday — his third college program in 319 days.
In addition to Lynn, 36, Campbell has officially hired — as announced by Penn State — one additional defensive coach: Deon Broomfield, who was the passing game coordinator/safeties at Iowa State and is listed as a secondary coach at Penn State. Deion Barnes, Penn State’s D-line coach since 2023 and a GA for three years prior to that, has been hired by South Carolina, while the status of safeties coach Anthony Poindexter, who served at the defensive coordinator for the Pinstripe Bowl, and linebacker coach Dan Connor has not been announced.
Campbell has also retained Smith, who coached the PSU cornerbacks and was the defense recruiting coordinator for the entirety of Franklin’s tenure, beginning in 2014. Smith will have the title of associate head coach. When Smith was named interim head coach, assistant cornerbacks coach Jordan Lucas, a former Penn State co-captain who earned a Super Bowl ring playing for the Kansas City Chiefs, was promoted to cornerbacks coach. Campbell has not announced what Smith’s title will be or whether Lucas will be retained.
IN THREE SEASONS AT TWO BIG TEN PROGRAMS in Los Angeles, Lynn made quite the impact:
AT USC in 2025: In helping USC to a 9-3 record — 7-2 and fourth place in the Big Ten — Lynn’s defense gave up 21 or fewer points in eight victories. In other games, USC gave up 31 points vs. Michigan State (a 45-31 win), 34 in losses to Illinois and Notre Dame, and 42 in a loss to Oregon. In the 2025 regular season, the Trojans ranked No. 12 nationally in red zone defense (73.7%), No. 46 in points allowed (22.4 ppg) and No. 47 in total defense (348.8 ypg). USC plays TCU in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 30.
AT USC IN 2024: In Lynn’s first season with the Trojans, he led a massive one-season defensive turnaround. USC held opponents to an average of just 24.1 points per game, improving from 34.4 in 2023. Lynn was the DC when Penn State defeated the Trojans in the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, 33-30, in overtime, as PSU tight end Tyler Warren dented USC for a record 17 receptions for 224 yards, including a 32-yard TD pass from Drew Allar on a play that originated with Warren lining up at center.
AT UCLA in 2023: Lynn’s defense finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in the nation in rushing defense (69.6 yards per game), No. 2 in in yards per rush allowed (2.33) and No. 2 in the nation in sacks per game (3.42). Opponents averaged just 299 yards per game, which was the lowest by a Bruin team since 1992. UCLA’s 41 sacks ranked No. 4 nationally.
LYNN THE NITTANY LION: Lynn was a Penn State cornerback from 2008-11 (just missing Lucas, who was a PSU cornerback/safety from 2012-15). While at Penn State, Lynn was an ultra-steady leader, playing in 47 games. He saw considerable playing time as a freshman, then started every game as a sophomore and junior, and made 11 of 13 starts as a senior.
A three-time All-Big Ten honorable mention cornerback, he had 162 career tackles, seven TFLs, four interceptions and one fumble recovery. He also saw limited duty as a punt returner. In 2010, Lynn was second on the team with 75 tackles. Lynn was signed by the Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2012 before finishing his playing career with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League in 2013.
“D-Lynn’s one of toughest guys I’ve ever met in my life,” DeOn’Tae Pannell, a four-year letter-winner on Penn State’s offensive line who played with Lynn, told FootballScoop in November. “I still remember him putting his helmet on the center’s chest on a corner blitz in practice. He liked to tackle, get in the box, any chance he could to mix it up.”
Lynn is the first former Penn State football player to serve as a coordinator since Tom Bradley in 2011. Bradley recruited Lynn out of Texas, then served as his position coach with the Nittany Lions.
Lynn and his wife, Courtney, a native of California, have two children. His father, Anthony, who has coached for 10 NFL teams, including serving as the Chargers’ head coach in 2017-2020, is currently the run game coordinator and running backs coach for the Washington Commanders.
LYNN AND THE NFL: Prior to UCLA, Lynn spent nine seasons in the NFL. He was the safeties coach for the Baltimore Ravens in 2021-22. Lynn spent 2020 as the Houston Texans secondary coach after spending two years as their assistant secondary coach (2018-19). In Lynn’s three seasons with the Texans, Houston’s head coach was Bill O’Brien, the PSU head coach in 2012-13. In 2017, Lynn was a defensive assistant with the Los Angeles Chargers when his father was the head coach. Lynn was an assistant with the Buffalo Bills from 2015-16, a seasonal intern with the New York Jets in 201, and worked in the Jets’ scouting department in 2013.
DEFENSE IN NEED OF REPAIR: Penn State’s defense slipped precipitously under Knowles in 2025, falling in the national rankings from:
• No. 4 to 102 in passes intercepted
• No. 5 to 73 in red zone defense
• No. 7 to 34 in total defense
• No. 9 to 72 in rushing defense
COMPARING DEFENSES: Here’s how the 2025 defenses of Penn State, Southern California and Iowa State stack up against each other, and compared to the Nittany Lions’ stellar defense of 2024, which was under the direction of then-defensive coordinator Tom Allen, who is now the DC at Clemson — Penn State’s opponent in the Pinstripe Bowl:
