{"id":617451,"date":"2025-12-21T16:39:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T16:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/617451\/"},"modified":"2025-12-21T16:39:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T16:39:10","slug":"lincoln-riley-addresses-reports-linking-usc-dc-danton-lynn-to-penn-state-job-well-see-how-it-plays-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/617451\/","title":{"rendered":"Lincoln Riley addresses reports linking USC DC D’Anton Lynn to Penn State job: ‘We’ll see how it plays out’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The coaching carousel goes well beyond just head coaches. Now, staffs are being filled out around the country. That includes at some major programs, like Penn State<\/a>. There, it\u2019s been rumored that the Nittany Lions could have interest in USC<\/a> defensive coordinator D\u2019Anton Lynn<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The hope for USC and head coach Lincoln Riley<\/a> is, of course, that the Trojans can retain Lynn. However, for the time being, he has to maintain a wait and see attitude. <\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I don\u2019t have an update,\u201d Lincoln Riley said<\/a>. \u201cThis is just what happens this time of year, especially when you have a really good staff, and are doing a lot of really positive things. This is part of what happens. So, we\u2019ve seen it, we understand it. We\u2019ll obviously see how it plays out.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Penn State coaching staff is getting a major shakeup this season after James Franklin<\/a> was fired midseason and eventually replaced by Matt Campbell<\/a>. Now, he\u2019s trying to put his stamp on the program\u2019s staff and replace Jim Knowles<\/a>. If that does turn out to be D\u2019Anton Lynn, it would likely send ripples through the Big Ten.<\/p>\n

Considered an up and coming coach, Lynn played defensive back at Penn State from 2008 through 2011. Those were the final years of the Joe Paterno<\/a> era. By 2014, Lynn got into coaching as an NFL assistant. Then, in 2023, he made the jump to coaching as the defensive coordinator at UCLA<\/a> and later USC.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve put ourselves in position here, where, we\u2019re excited about the opportunity to keep continuity and continue to build. But we\u2019re, honestly, at that point where \u2014 no just that position, any position \u2014 if there is turnover, these are really coveted jobs. This job is, frankly, different than it was four years ago,\u201d Riley said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s a lot different than it was two years ago for any job, not just that job. It\u2019s just part of the world we live in and hopefully we can keep as much continuity as we can but if we have to make any replacements, then we\u2019re going to try to do what we\u2019ve done. Do it at a high level and find ways to make our program even better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Penn State has made it clear that the Nittany Lions are ready to put up big investments in their assistant coaches. Knowles was making $3.1 annually as the team\u2019s defensive coordinator a season ago. It was reported that Penn State would also be committing $17 million to its assistant staff salary pool. <\/p>\n

The fact that it\u2019s Penn State Lynn is being rumored with doesn\u2019t change how Riley views the situation. This is just a standard reality in the industry. So, he\u2019ll have to deal with it if that move gets made.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot really,\u201d Riley said. \u201cThose things are what they are. Everybody prioritizes different things. So, that\u2019s why, you know, I don\u2019t judge that. I get it. But again, look at last year. Penn State hired the D-coordinator from the team that won the national championship. These things happen. Obviously, D\u2019Anton has done a really good job here, and we\u2019ll see how it plays out.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, USC is still working on bowl preparation on top of these possible staff changes. On December 30th, the Trojans will take on TCU<\/a> in the Alamo Bowl.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The coaching carousel goes well beyond just head coaches. Now, staffs are being filled out around the country.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":617452,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[91427,7,18605,34232,49,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-617451","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-danton-lynn-08-celina","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-james-franklin-91-neshaminy","11":"tag-lincoln-riley-02-muleshoe","12":"tag-ncaa","13":"tag-ncaa-football"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115758548458369774","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=617451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/617452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=617451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=617451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=617451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}