The Penn State Nittany Lions are in the midst of starting a new era after James Franklin was fired just 6 games into the season. After a lengthy coaching search where it appeared that the Nittany Lions whiffed on several of their top candidates, they ended up in a great place, landing Iowa State's Matt Campbell.
As Penn State looks to quickly get back to competing for Big Ten Championships and College Football Playoff appearances, Matt Campbell has some heavy lifting to do. Before the Transfer Portal opens at the start of January, Matt Campbell needs to build out his staff. One of the biggest roles that remains unfilled for Penn State is defensive coordinator, but it appears Campbell has a splash hire in mind.
Penn State landing D'Anton Lynn would cripple Lincoln Riley
On Wednesday, USC fans were concerned when it was reported that D'Anton Lynn would no longer speak to the media after being scheduled to do so. Wednesday Night quickly revealed why as it was reported that D'Anton Lynn was the target for Penn State's defensive coordinator role.
USC’s D’Anton Lynn is the target for the Penn State defensive coordinator job, sources tell @CBSSports.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) December 18, 2025
The ex-Penn State DB has improved SC from 121st nationally in scoring defense two years ago to now allowing 12 fewer points per game. Before USC, led a top 15 defense at UCLA. pic.twitter.com/vkLnzqvodx
D'Anton Lynn played for the Penn State Nittany Lions for 4 seasons under Joe Paterno, earning All-Big Ten honorable mentions 3 times.
The reputation around Lincoln Riley was always that his teams couldn't field a competent defense from his time at Oklahoma into the start of his USC tenure. When Riley finally moved on from Alex Grinch, he brought in Lynn, and everything has changed for the Trojans.
If Penn State is able to hire D'Anton Lynn, it would deal significant damage to all the progress Lincoln Riley has made at USC. Lynn has transformed the Trojans' defense, and if Riley has to make a new hire, he won't get a coach that's nearly as good as what he currently has.
Penn State is just coming off a failed big hire at defensive coordinator as James Franklin hired Jim Knowles away from Ohio State, and he wasn't nearly the same coach as he was for the Buckeyes. Hiring Lynn is far different than hiring Knowles as Penn State needs to ensure Matt Campbell hits the ground running, and if he feels Lynn is the man for the job, then you can't be denied.