After a massive victory over the Clemson Tigers in the Pinstripe Bowl earlier this month, the Penn State Nittany Lions are now set to begin a new era of football in 2026.

With former head coach James Franklin being fired during the middle of the 2025 season, athletic director Pat Kraft made an intriguing move to hire former Iowa State Cyclones’ head coach Matt Campbell to fill the void.

The move resulted in multiple coaching shakeups for the Nittany Lions this offseason, as the Tennessee Volunteers would hire defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. His decision left a huge opening for Campbell, which he proceeded to fill with a massive hire this offseason.

According to multiple reports earlier this week, Penn State is in the process of hiring former USC Trojans’ defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn to replace Knowles.

Lynn, prior to becoming a highly-regarded defensive mind, was a three-star safety prospect coming out of high school. He would commit to play his college career in State College, and after spending four seasons with the program, Lynn would become an undrafted free agent in the 2012 NFL Draft.

The standout safety was unable to make a name for himself at the professional level, but his two years of experience in the NFL helped pave the way to his coaching career. Lynn spent five seasons as an assistant for multiple teams and would eventually get his big break in 2021 as the safeties coach for the Baltimore Ravens.

After just two seasons with the Ravens, Lynn received his first opportunity as a defensive coordinator at the college level with the UCLA Bruins in 2023. In just one season with the program, Lynn helped the Bruins’ defense become one of the best in the nation, as the unit allowed an average of 301.5 yards per game, while allowing 18.4 points per game.

His stint with UCLA would be short-lived, however, as the rising coordinator would take over the defensive coordinator position for USC in 2024 under head coach Lincoln Riley.

While Lynn enjoyed the immediate success with the Bruins in his first season with the program, moving to USC proved to be a challenge due to the Trojans' move to the Big 10 Conference.

Luckily for Lynn and Riley, USC’s defense would make substantial progress in 2025, as the coaching staff turned the unit from a bottom-tier defense in the conference to a middle-of-the-pack squad this past season. The Trojans allowed an average of 207.5 passing yards per game this year, which ranked 9th in the Big 10.

With more resources and defensive playmakers coming his way at Penn State, Lynn could be the key to success on defense for the struggling program in 2026.