Gone from USC after two years of directing dramatic improvement in the Trojans' defense, D'Anton Lynn is returning to his alma mater, Penn State, and already quickly working to assemble his defensive coaching staff.
Sources tell FootballScoop that Lynn, set to formally become Matt Campbell's inaugural defensive coordinator atop the Nittany Lions, already is making a staff addition.
DeOn'Tae Pannell, also a former standout-player for Penn State, is departing his role at Football Championship Subdivision program Austin Peay as the defensive line coach to take an unspecified role within Lynn's first Nittany Lions staff.
It's a reunion for Lynn and Pannell, who not only both are Penn State alums but are former teammates and roommates. Pannell has informed his Austin Peay colleagues and players that he is returning to his alma mater, sources told FootballScoop.
“D-Lynn’s one of toughest guys I’ve ever met in my life,” Pannell told FootballScoop about his ex-teammate during an October interview for a profile on Lynn and his rise in coaching. “I still remember him putting his helmet on the center’s chest on a corner blitz in practice. He liked to tackle, get in the box any chance he could to mix it up.
“In those years, you could expect that corner cat about five times a game, and we got it five, 10 times a week in practice. Number 1, he’s beaten me off the edge before and another time I’ve seen him absolutely put his face through somebody’s chest. I still remember him going head-to-head with Julio Jones (Alabama star, future NFL first-round draft pick), and he didn’t back down a second.”
Pannell's own coaching journey also is marked with momentous developments. Working alongside Lynn in 2023 on Chip Kelly's UCLA staff, Pannell served as the Bruins run-game coordinator and a top defensive analyst.
Prior to that stint in Hollywood, Pannell worked in the NFL for the Detroit Lions. There, he helped coach the offensive line and served as a quality control coach for the position at which Pannell shined during his collegiate career under the late, College Football Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno.
Penn State hired Campbell away from Iowa State earlier this month after Campbell's record-setting run atop the Cyclones program and after Penn State had fired James Franklin midway through the 2025 season after a 3-3 start.
Campbell's longtime defensive coordinator at Iowa State, Jon Heacock, recently announced his retirement, and Penn State, with Campbell at the helm, began immediately to pursue Lynn -- who still had two years remaining on his USC contract, a buyout of more than $2.5 million and who had carved USC's bloated defensive numbers from 2023 into much more respectable units the past two seasons.
Lynn did not coach in USC's season-ending Alamo Bowl loss Tuesday night to TCU.