LOS ANGELES — Last January, D'Anton Lynn was given the chance to trade in his defensive coordinator job with the Trojans to lead the defense at his alma mater, Penn State. But Lynn turned Penn State down, and USC, in turn, gave its rising star coach a significant raise. What changed in the 11 months between those two offers, outside of new leadership at Penn State, remains unclear. At USC, Lynn engineered an impressive turnaround of a Trojans defense that completely unraveled under previous coordinator Alex Grinch. USC allowed fewer points per game during the 2025 regular season, but struggled especially to stop the run and prevent big plays.

Source: Los Angeles Times December 30, 2025 01:03 UTC