Former Penn State cornerback D’Anton Lynn has quickly risen up the coaching ranks, going from an intern with the New York Jets in 2014 to UCLA’s defensive coordinator in 2023.
His performance with the Bruins, leading a top-10 total defense in his only season, led to a pay raise to jump across the city to USC, where he guided the defense upward through two seasons with the Trojans.
When the Nittany Lions overhauled their coaching staff this offseason, it provided an opportunity for Lynn to return to his alma mater.
“Obviously I’ve been a Penn State fan, but coming back here to coach, I didn’t really think that opportunity would come,” Lynn said last week in his first media availability since taking the job. “Like I said earlier, I just felt like this time around, me and my wife, we felt like it was just the right decision for us at this point.”
Head coach Matt Campbell said Lynn “gave up some things” financially to leave USC, and while they hadn’t met previously, they both felt that it was a great fit.
Schematically, Lynn wants his defense to be adaptable depending on the available personnel at a school. He’s not anchored to any specific ideas, which means his units can vary wildly year-to-year.
“We want to try and put these guys in the best position possible,” Lynn said. “I feel like 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. We’re going to be able to get in different looks, have guys playing in different spots.”
First, Lynn must understand the talent on the roster. The new coaching staff hasn’t begun spring practices, so Lynn has studied game and practiced film to understand what he’s working with.
After analyzing Penn State’s roster, Lynn and the rest of the staff worked to bring in transfers whose skill sets and abilities complement the returning pieces. One specific need they addressed was a lack of size on the defensive line, bringing in Siale Taupaki (335 pounds), Keanu Williams (320 pounds), Dallas Vakalahi (318 pounds), Armstrong Nnodim (290 pounds), Alijah Carnell (290 pounds), Ikenna Ezeogu (285 pounds).
“We really don’t know what this group is gonna master in, and (Lynn is) open to, OK, spring ball, we have to figure out, are we still a good man cover team? Are we a better zone cover team? Are we a better blitz team? Are we drop eight team, or whatever the coverages are? He’s not preconceiving the idea of ‘we’re going to do this’ and stuffing it on us,” cornerbacks coach Terry Smith said.
The next step is blending the returners and transfers into a cohesive unit. For Lynn, he coaches in concepts instead of play calls.
“It helps them not just know what they do, but why they’re doing it and what’s going on, as far as what the guy next to them is doing also,” Lynn said. “It’s definitely a process, but once we get into spring, I feel like you start seeing the guys play faster and faster, and then on our end, you know, we have to take input from them also.”
Lynn said he’s always open to feedback from the players on what they like or dislike and what they understand or need help with. In addition to player feedback, Lynn has been a “sponge” with other coaches, picking up new wrinkles to implement.
One coach who’s made a major impact on Lynn is Tom Bradley, who coached in different roles at Penn State from 1979 to 2011. Bradley was the defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach during Lynn’s college days, and they still talk at least once a year, according to Lynn.
“It was awesome to get a chance to play for Scrap … he did a great job of always teaching us the big picture,” Lynn said. “So we didn’t just know what we had, we knew why he’s making this call and how it affects the entire defense, and I just feel like that helped my football IQ just skyrocket.”
