Penn State football defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn is a former Nittany Lion himself. With head coach Matt Campbell coming to Happy Valley, he reminded Lynn why this was the place he belonged.
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From 2008-11, Lynn played cornerback for the blue and white, playing in 47 collegiate career games. He had 159 total tackles, seven tackles for loss, five passes defensed, and four interceptions over three seasons after redshirting his true freshman year. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Jets in 2012.
Before Penn State, he had stops at the Jets, Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Charger, Houston Texans, and Baltimore Ravens in the NFL. He then jumped to the college level, earning his first role as defensive coordinator at UCLA in 2023 and held that position through the 2025 season. Campbell hired Lynn at the end of December as the Nittany Lions' new defensive coordinator.
Penn State head coach Matt Campbell says D'Anton Lynn was his top candidate for defensive coordinator
Campbell revealed in a recent media availability that in his search for the program's next defensive coordinator, Lynn was his top candidate after Iowa State's Jon Heacock retired from coaching.
He said, according to Penn State Nittany Lions On SI that Lynn's style of defense was something he wanted implemented at Penn State. In addition to that, Campbell was drawn to Lynn because of his ties to the program as well.
"For somebody that understood Penn State football, that wanted to be here, that wanted to be a part of this program, that had a passion for Penn State. I felt like that was critical," Campbell said.
The opportunity to return to Happy Valley was too good to pass up. For Lynn, he said he didn't think he'd find his way back to his alma mater.
“The more I talked to Campbell on the phone, he really reminded me of why I went to Penn State, just from what he was going to do with the culture here,” Lynn said to media. “I was just excited to be on board.”