LOS ANGELES — Last January, D’Anton Lynn was given the chance to trade in his defensive coordinator job with the Trojans to lead the defense at his alma mater, Penn State. But Lynn turned Penn State down, and USC, in turn, gave its rising star coach a significant raise.
Now, with the same offer on the table less than a year later, Lynn has decided to change course.
Lynn is leaving USC after two seasons to become the defensive coordinator at Penn State under new coach Matt Campbell, a person familiar with the decision but not authorized to speak on the matter told The Los Angeles Times.
What changed in the 11 months between those two offers, outside of new leadership at Penn State, remains unclear. The Nittany Lions entered last season as presumed national title contenders before bottoming out in the first half of the season under James Franklin, who was fired in October. Campbell was hired earlier this month, but has no known ties to Lynn.
At USC, Lynn engineered an impressive turnaround of a Trojans defense that completely unraveled under previous coordinator Alex Grinch. USC gave up 10 fewer points per game under Lynn last season, leaping from 121st in the nation (34.4 points per game) to a respectable 56th (24.1). The defense improved considerably against the run, giving up nearly 50 fewer yards per game, and with its tackling, missing three fewer on average per game.
But the progress was less apparent in his second season as coordinator. USC allowed fewer points per game during the 2025 regular season, but struggled especially to stop the run and prevent big plays. Those issues proved particularly glaring in USC’s road losses to Illinois, Notre Dame and Oregon.
Still, when UCLA’s head coaching job came open in September, Lynn, who previously led the Bruins’ defense, was seen as a potential candidate for the job. After turning down the Nittany Lions in January, many viewed Lynn’s next logical step being the NFL, where he spent his entire coaching tenure prior to joining UCLA.
His departure leaves USC to look for its third defensive coordinator in four years.
