Penn State’s D’Anton Lynn returns home, finds fit with Matt Campbell

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Someone close to D’Anton Lynn tried to sway him from getting into coaching football.

That person told him to go into finance, banking or even communication.

But it was too late for Anthony Lynn, who’s now the Washington Commanders running backs coach, to keep his son from following in his footsteps.

“It was always something in the back of my mind,” D’Anton Lynn said. “He started coaching when I was in fifth or sixth grade. Once he started to coach (then with the Denver Broncos), I could go to the office with him and be a ballboy. I was around the office as often as I could.

“Once I got done playing, he tried to steer me in any direction other than this.”

D’Anton Lynn, a rising star in coaching, has returned to Penn State, his alma mater, as the defensive coordinator in Matt Campbell’s first season as head coach.

The 36-year-old Lynn spent the last two seasons at USC and one before that at UCLA as the defensive coordinator. His decision wasn’t easy

“It was difficult,” he said. “My wife (Courtney) is from LA. We have three kids. Spending time at SC for two years, you develop relationships. It was hard to leave the players. We just felt like this was the best move.

“When I talked to Coach Campbell, he really reminded me why I went to Penn State, just from what he was going to do with the culture here.”

Campbell and Lynn had admired each other from afar. They had never met or spoken until after Jon Heacock, Campbell’s longtime defensive coordinator at Iowa State, had decided to retire and not move to Penn State.

Lynn’s name was then the first one that was recommended by others, including new Penn State safeties coach Deon Broomfield, who worked with Lynn for one season with the Houston Texans.

“From talking to some people that I have great respect for and to some of our own coaches that had come with me (from Iowa State), I just felt like Coach Lynn was the No. 1 target,” Campbell said, “for the style of defense we wanted to play, for somebody that understood Penn State football, that wanted to be here, that wanted to be a part of this program and that had a passion for Penn State.

“I felt like that was critical.”

Lynn played cornerback for the Nittany Lions from 2008-11, started 37 of his last 38 games and received All-Big Ten honorable mention three times. Then-defensive coordinator Tom Bradley has remained a friend, along with former Penn State players and current staff members Jordan Hill, Alan Zemaitis and DeOn’tae Pannell.

“Man, it was awesome to get a chance to play for Scrap (Bradley),” Lynn said. “He was the position coach and the coordinator. He did a great job of always teaching us the big picture. We didn’t just know what we had. We knew why he was making a call and how it affected the entire defense. I feel like it helped my football IQ skyrocket.”

After spending one season in the NFL and one in the CFL as a player, Lynn turned to coaching. He was a scouting intern with the New York Jets in 2014, where his father coached the running backs. But he yearned to be back on the field.

He was hired by the Buffalo Bills and Rex Ryan as a defensive assistant and slowly climbed the coaching ladder. He worked nine seasons in the NFL with the Los Angeles Chargers, Texans and Baltimore Ravens before he became defensive coordinator for Chip Kelly at UCLA in 2023.

With the Bruins, he met assistant coach Ikaika Malloe, who has joined him as the defensive line coach at Penn State.

“I remember D’Anton’s interview clearly,” Malloe said. “We were trying to ask him questions to see how much he knew and he was asking us questions. Right away you could tell, ‘Gosh, dang, this guy’s really, really bright.’

“Coach Lynn was so out of the box in terms of his schemes. He was so in the box in terms of making sure the scheme fit the players. That’s a little bit different. I remember telling my wife, ‘I’m going to do whatever I can to make this guy right.’ ”

UCLA’s defense leaped from 87th in total defense to 10th in one season. Lynn caught the attention of USC coach Lincoln Riley, who lured him crosstown to join the Trojans’ staff.

Under Lynn’s guidance, USC’s points allowed dropped from 34.4 to 24.1 in his first season there and then to 23.0 last season.

“Schematically, I think we see the game very similarly,” Campbell said. “Most importantly, when you talk about leadership, excellence, what you stand for, believing in the development of 18- to 22-year-olds, how you see us winning games, how we can be a great team together, I think all those things were no-brainers for us.”

Former Penn State coach James Franklin had previously approached Lynn about working for him with the Lions. Lynn said he and his wife were more prepared to move across the country when Campbell offered.

“I didn’t know him at all,” Lynn said. “The more I talked to him on the phone, the more it reminded me of getting recruited out of high school and why I went to Penn State as far as the values and the character he has. It reminded me of old-school Penn State.”

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