The way forward for USC if Trojans lose D'Anton Lynn to Penn State

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Late on Wednesday evening, CBS Sports senior reporter Matt Zenitz reported that USC football defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn is the target for the open defensive coordinator job at Penn State under new head coach Matt Campbell.

Lynn, 36, has spent the last two seasons as USC’s DC and significantly upgraded the Trojans‘ defensive unit overall compared to the last two defensive coordinators, Todd Orlando and Alex Grinch.

Played at Penn State

Lynn played four seasons as a cornerback at Penn State from 2008-2011, which leads many to believe he would seriously consider returning to his alma mater to coach defense.

That would come as a major blow to USC’s coaching staff, especially this late in the offseason when so many coaching moves have already been made. After Zenitz shared the rumors, many Trojan fans are likely panicking, wondering who the Trojans would, or could, even turn to.

So let’s talk about it.

Would Lynn even leave?

It’s tough to know exactly what it would take to get D’Anton Lynn to leave USC. Penn State would certainly offer him a sizable contract, and it would be up to USC to match that deal. Exactly how much USC could offer is unclear, given how much the school already likely has committed to its staff and the immense amount of NIL needed to assemble USC’s very talented roster in 2026.

It likely depends on how Lynn feels about USC’s 2026 recruiting class, which remember, is No. 1 in the country. It seems unlikely that he would want to start over now after how much work has gone into assembling all the defensive talent on USC’s 2026 roster, and the future implications of all the youth on that roster.

But, you don’t get a chance to coach at your alma mater everyday.

Promoting a lower defensive staffer — easy but unlikely

This late in the offseason, you often see teams that lose a head coach or coordinator forced to promote someone from within.

I don’t think the Trojans should promote anyone on its defensive staff. Eric Henderson, Doug Belk, Shaun Nua, Trovon Reed and Rob Ryan haven’t been consistent enough for long enough with their respective position groups for me to trust them leading USC’s entire defense.

Plus, if Lynn is out the door, some of them could follow him to Penn State as well.

A reunion with Coach O?

In my opinion, if D’Anton Lynn leaves, USC should call Ed Orgeron and ask him to be their defensive coordinator immediately.

Coach O recently said on the Bussin With The Boys Podcast that he would be open to returning to USC to coach because he feels the Trojans are building towards being competitive for a national championship.

“I would go be a defensive line coach at a major program,” Orgeron said. “A team that competes, I won’t say a school, a team that competes for the national championship, a team that has the power and the recruiting base to compete at a national championship. USC is one of them schools.”

Second thoughts?

Orgeron did say he’d want to be a defensive line coach and not a defensive coordinator, but I’d bet a few more dollars could get an energetic guy like Orgeron to accept more responsibility. He’s already been DC at USC once before.

He’s a better bet that anyone to help USC retain its defensive talent if Lynn leaves as well. He’s shown in the past that he’s willing to do anything to retain top talent, and his personality is infectious. What he lacks in experience as a defensive coordinator he makes up for in his ability to connect with players.

Who else would USC target?

Current Denver Broncos assistant coach Jim Leonhard was a very popular defensive coordinator candidate for the Trojans back in 2023. Now that he’s in the NFL and the Broncos are having so much success, it’s unclear if he’d consider coming back to college, but it would be worth a call for the Trojans.

The Trojans should call everybody — Corey Hetherman of Miami, Pete Kwiatowksi of Texas. But given that guys like that are already coaching CFP teams, USC would have to put together a pretty compelling argument to get them to come to Los Angeles.

Under-the-radar option

A name I haven’t head mentioned in many other places is Danny Gonzales, defensive coordinator at Arizona. His Wildcats ranked just outside of the top 10 in yards allowed per play, and top 20 in yards allowed per game. He’s been rising up the ranks at Arizona, promoted to defensive coordinator this year after he served as special teams coordinator and linebackers coach in 2024.

I have no idea if Gonzales would consider leaving Arizona for USC, but I’d imagine the Trojans would pay him more than Arizona is.

USC-Penn State next season

We’ve already talked about how USC-Penn State has become a massive, almost must-win game for Lincoln Riley next season because he is facing off against Matt Campbell, the other top candidate for the USC Head Coach job in 2021.

If he has to face Campbell and D’Anton Lynn?! Oh boy. Grab your popcorn, because this might become the game of the year.

Not to be ignored

Speaking of Riley, whether Lynn stays is something of a reflection on Riley’s staff’s belief in him as a head coach. It doesn’t matter what Penn State offers, if Lynn is bought in to what the Trojans are building, he will stay. Ultimately, the best way to keep people bought in is to have a fearless leader who casts an enticing vision for everyone on staff, which is Riley’s job.

With all of the roster turnover, who knew that D’Anton Lynn could become the most important person to retain for USC this offseason? Let’s hope that this doesn’t become an issue — or if it does, that USC pivots and immediately lands a home run hire to replace him. This is a tough situation in so many ways — but Chad Bowden’s involvement makes me feel confident that USC will come out on top.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC football defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn to Penn State rumors

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