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Cross Him Off, Then: Former Penn State DB Staying at USC, Wonโ€™t be PSU DC

Who will James Franklin hire as Penn Stateโ€™s DC?
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now: James Franklin

A former Penn State player who many wanted to be the schoolโ€™s next defensive coordinator is staying with his current employer.

Thursday night, Pete Thamel of ESPN reported that Dโ€™Anton Lynn has agreed to an extension with USC.

This narrows down Penn Stateโ€™s defensive coordinator search.

At 35, Lynn is an up and comer, but he already has plenty of polish. Lynn was UCLAโ€™s DC in 2023. He did well enough there to go to LAโ€™s more prominent program the next year. In 2024, USC had the 56th-ranked scoring defense and the 77th total defense. That doesnโ€™t seem great. But compared to 2023, when it ranked 121st in scoring defense and 119th in total defense (out of 133 FBS teams), it was much-improved. Lynn is a rising star who still doesnโ€™t have a ton on his resume relative to guys like Manny Diaz and Tom Allen, who were Penn Stateโ€™s last two defensive coordinators.

THE CLASSIC FLIGHT TRACKER

 

As with every college coaching search, Penn State fans payed attention to flight trackers. In this case, the flight tracker showed a flight going from California to State College. Although itโ€™s not confirmed whether Lynn and PSU head coach James Franklin had an in-person interview, that seems to be a good indicator that it happened. Thamel also tweeted that Lynn โ€œreceived coordinator interest in the coaching cycle.โ€

SO WHO WILL PENN STATE HIRE?

Penn State is reportedly looking at a Big Ten name for its vacant defensive coordinator position.

Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now

So who will Penn State hire? Well, the obvious choice among in-house names is safeties coach/co-defensive coordinator Anthony Poindexter, who many Penn State fans are pushing for. Of the people on the outside, a name thatโ€™s picking up traction is Ephraim Banda, who NSN confirmed earlier this week has interviewed for the position. Banda is the current safeties coach for the Cleveland Browns and previously worked with Diaz at three schools between 2012-20.

Penn State opens the 2025 season Aug. 30 against Nevada at Beaver Stadium.

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