New Penn State defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn back at home in Happy Valley

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — D’Anton Lynn admits he had tunnel vision during his playing days at Penn State.

The new Nittany Lions defensive coordinator uses the central Pennsylvania scenery to make his point.

Mount Nittany, for example, juts skyward 2,077 feet about a mile east of the team’s facility, offering a spectacular, unabated view for anyone huddled on the practice fields.

As a three-year starter for Joe Paterno from 2009 until 2011, Lynn never really noticed the big rolling hill the program is named after. Entering his first year as the 18th-ranked Nittany Lions’ defensive coordinator, Lynn can now see the big picture.

“Seeing things from a different perspective, you appreciate things,” Lynn said. “When I played here, as crazy as it sounds, I never realized how pretty our practice field is with the mountains and the trees. And the first time I’m out here as a coach I’m like, ‘Wow, this practice field is beautiful.’”

For Lynn, it’s a lesson in pride he’s eager to pass along to his players, a group he believes can be one of the country’s more formidable defenses.

Though relatively inexperienced up front, the Nittany Lions have a handful of players Lynn feels can excel in multiple positions. It should be a versatile group, he said, and will get a boost with star linebacker Tony Rojas and rising edge rusher Max Granville returning from injuries.

“He’s a great communicator, teacher,” Penn State head coach Matt Campbell said of Lynn. “When you watch him with our players, the ability to invest in the players, not just as the teacher of the scheme, but then also sitting down, pulling a young man into his office, wrapping his arms around the young man, having a real relationship with our players. All those things have mattered to me. That’s what I thought I was hiring, and it certainly is exactly what I’ve witnessed.”

Following assistant coaching stints in the NFL, Lynn served as the defensive coordinator at UCLA and Southern California, where he blossomed as a mentor over the past three seasons. Under Lynn’s tutelage, the Bruins went from 87th nationally in total defense to 10th overall in 2023. The Trojans, meanwhile, allowed 10 fewer points per game in his first year, went 9-4 in his second, and Lynn quickly became one of the country’s top young coaching prospects.

The 36-year-old didn’t hesitate when Campbell called offering a job at his alma mater. Lynn believed Campbell would run a collaborative program.

So far, that’s how it’s gone.

Lynn has been busy installing a defense with lots of new faces around. The Nittany Lions will lean on a combination of returning players, transfers and a bunch of youngsters this season. Getting them all on the same page has been a challenge.

“You can’t assume anything,” Lynn said. “Each year I’ve been in college, I’ve kind of learned that. In the NFL you’re really just mastering everyone’s crafts. They’re all pros. They’re all elite. In college, I think each year there’s always things that you just kind of assume they know that they don’t know, so you have to have the mindset that you need to teach them absolutely everything starting from the ground up.”

It’s easier when there are veterans to lean on.

Defensive tackle Siale Taupaki, entering his eighth year of eligibility and first at Penn State, worked with Lynn at UCLA, where he learned the coach is always open to feedback.

“What makes a great teacher is understanding how the students think and process information,” Taupaki said. “With D-Lynn, there’s certain things he wants done. But his doors are always open for us to come up and be like: ‘Coach, I think this. I think that.’ To find the little knicks and knacks we can fix.”

Lynn hasn’t tried to force any scheme on his players, nor has he committed to giving them the entire playbook this early. As he’s done with other programs, the Penn State defense will remain an evolving scheme as the season unfolds.

“You never know how guys learn and my biggest thing is, as a player you can never say ,‘I’ve got it,’” Lynn said. “So we’re always reinstalling, reteaching stuff.”

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