The long legacy of Lincoln Riley led programs was having outstanding offenses and defenses that couldn't stop a nose bleed. During his days at Oklahoma, you'd watch the Sooners light up the scoreboard, but when they faced the better teams in the Playoff, they couldn't keep pace. At the start of his USC tenure, Caleb Williams and the offense were let down by the defense as everyone remembers the Pac-12 Championship Game against Utah when the Trojans couldn't tackle.
Everything changed for Lincoln Riley when he finally fired Alex Grinch and poached D'Anton Lynn from UCLA. The Trojans defense has been significantly improved over the last two seasons which was much needed as they joined the Big Ten.
The only issue for USC is that when Matt Campbell took the Iowa State job firing Jim Knowles, a homecoming was made possible. On Monday, Penn State finalized a deal bringing Lynn back to Happy Valley where he played Cornerback.
Penn State is closing in on a deal to hire USC's D'Anton Lynn as the next defensive coordinator, sources tell ESPN. The sides have been in talks for weeks, with the buyout from USC looming as the issue holding up the hire. pic.twitter.com/PlBk77GusP
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 29, 2025
Lincoln Riley must hire Pete Kwiatkowski to lead the defense
After losing D'Anton Lynn, Lincoln Riley can't afford to take a step back on defense as the pressure continues to build. Riley has yet to lead the Trojans to the College Football Playoff, and he'll need to make a strong push to finally get this program to where everyone expected him to bring it when he was hired.
While losing D'Anton Lynn is a massive blow, Lincoln Riley may have gotten lucky with Texas firing Pete Kwiatkowski. The Texas defense allowed just 19.8 points per game this season, ranking 25th in the country which is better than where USC finished allowing 22.4 points per game which ranked 48th.
Kwiatkowski has built stellar defenses in his time at Texas, and he comes with the experience that Riley needs as he focuses on the offense. The other option for Lincoln Riley could be looking internally and promoting Co-DC Eric Henderson who lacks experience calling a defense, but has been a top assistant for the Trojans.