PSU defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn talks about making the decision to come to State College with his wife and the importance of the work life balance. By Abby Drey
By the time D’Anton Lynn arrived back at Penn State it had been nearly a decade since he’d last been in the Lasch Football Building. Back then he was just getting into coaching, holding a role as a defensive assistant with the Buffalo Bills. He was in town at the program’s Pro Day in 2016 to evaluate the Nittany Lions’ prospects, including quarterback Christian Hackenberg.
Things have changed greatly in the decade since. He’s now the team’s defensive coordinator, and the facilities, as he said, are much improved. The Lasch building looks much better now than it did then, and a major renovation is underway at Beaver Stadium. But those aren’t the only adjustments for Lynn. He called State College home as a player when he was on the Nittany Lions from 2008-2011, and the first thing he did when he got back this time around was take a trip downtown.
“The first thing I did was drive up and down College [Avenue],” Lynn said. All that looks completely different, but again, there’s some stuff that’s the exact same, but it’s just cool, just to see everything just grow and develop.”
This was not Lynn’s first opportunity to return to the program. But it was the right one. And Lynn chose to come back at a time when he can help re-invigorate the program as head coach Matt Campbell builds it in his image.
The defensive coordinator spent the last two seasons at USC, and after his first one, the Nittany Lions came calling. They were in need of a DC after Tom Allen left for Clemson, and Lynn was near the top of the list for then-head coach James Franklin. But the timing wasn’t right, and the Nittany Lions circled back to Jim Knowles, who stayed with the program for a year.
This time around, the timing was right.
“Me and my wife felt like — at this point my life every decision that I make has to be a family choice — and this time around, we just felt like we’re prepared to take this step,” Lynn said. “For me, I’ve lived everywhere. For her, she’s from LA, she went to college at Hawaii, she moved back in LA. And we have three kids under three, so she has a lot of help and support out there, but she’s super excited to come out here and be a part of the community out here.”
There’s something to be said for finding the right fit as a football coach, too. The job requires availability at all hours of the day and can lead to some long nights in the office. There are some who think prioritizing anything other than football lessens the value of a coach. That has been disproven by plenty of coaches who have shown they can balance being at home and excelling at work. And it seems this staff plans to do that, too.
Since the staff arrived in Happy Valley, coaches golf together, they go home and spend time with their kids, they go to sporting events with each other’s families. Finding that type of balance is important for Lynn, and one he believes he has under Campbell.
“As a young coach when it was just me, I wake up, I go to work, I go home and I sleep,” Lynn said. “Now, I’m married, I have kids. It’s just, you’re trying to balance all that. And so I think it’s huge. It makes you a better coach. It makes you fresher in the office. And I also think it’s good for the players to see us not just be a coach. It’s good for them to see me be a husband. To see me be a dad. So I want my kids to be around them as often as they can.”
So when Campbell called to discuss the defensive coordinator position with Lynn, it makes sense that they immediately found fits in each other. There were hurdles to clear — Lynn’s buyout was prohibitive — but the financials were ultimately worked out, and he was able to leave the West Coast and bring his family to a place he called home as a college student.
Sure, plenty has changed downtown and in the football building. But Lynn is here to bring back something the program has known for a long time. He’s a high-level coordinator who is tasked with bringing high-level defense back to the program after the unit struggled in 2025, failing to meet the standard it had set in recent years.
That is what his hire is about. He wasn’t brought in entirely because he played at Penn State, or because he knew what downtown looked like 15 years ago. Those things can help the transition, but they aren’t the main reason Campbell hired him. He did that because he knows what Lynn is capable of achieving.
“From talking to some people that I have great respect for to even in-house of some of our own coaches that had come with me, just felt like that was the No. 1 target 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, that had a passion for Penn State. I felt like that was critical,” Campbell said. “Most importantly, you talk about leadership, excellence, what do you stand for, do you believe in the development of 18- to 22-year-olds, how do you see us winning the game, can we be a great team together, and then I think all those things were no-brainers for us.”
That’s crucial as Campbell rebuilds Penn State on the fly with an overhauled roster and new coordinators on both sides of the ball. So much of this offseason is about learning and bringing together an offense and a defense to build a team that can have success in the fall. There’s plenty left to accomplish in that time as Lynn gets the ball rolling with the 2026 defense.
And what Lynn is capable of accomplishing will go a long way in determining what Campbell is able to achieve in his first year at Penn State.