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Jake Trotter, ESPN Staff Writer
INDIANAPOLIS — USC coach Lincoln Riley said he believes new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn will help turn around a Trojans defense that was among the worst in the country last season.
Riley hired Lynn away from rival UCLA. Under Lynn, the Bruins ranked eighth nationally, allowing just 4.55 yards per play; USC, meanwhile, ranked 104th, giving up 6.10 yards per play.
“He obviously authored the biggest turnaround in defensive college football last year, and I got a front-row seat at it,” Riley said of Lynn during Big Ten media days Wednesday. “I thought the changes he made there were staggering.”
Before arriving at UCLA prior to the 2023 season, Lynn spent nine years in the NFL. He’s the son of former Los Angeles Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn, who now is an assistant with the Washington Commanders.
Riley admitted that he knew he would hire D’Anton Lynn last December after their first phone call.
“I just thought he fit what we want to do from a team and a culture standpoint,” Riley said. “I loved his NFL experience, especially some of the [coaching] trees that he came out of, and then we shared, I think, a lot of very similar beliefs in how defense should be played and developed, finished each other’s sentences, in terms of philosophy and how we felt like this would be built.”
Riley noted that he thinks Lynn will help coach around any talent shortfalls the Trojans might still have on the defensive side.
“We’re still in our climb, and our talent base has gotten better and it’s going to continue to get better,” said Riley, who is entering his third season at USC. “But I want coaches that can adapt to what we have on a given year, and I think the best coaches are able to do that, and I think D’Anton certainly has an eye and ability to do that at a high level.”
Riley fired defensive coordinator Alex Grinch last November after USC surrendered a combined 101 points over a two-game stretch. Riley admitted that having high-powered offenses alone isn’t good enough, especially as the Trojans enter the Big Ten.
“If you think back to USC history and when this program, which is most of history, has been elite, there were elite defenses to go along with that year in and year out,” Riley said. “And that is our aim, that’s our goal and that is what we are going to get back to.”