Tony Rojas has already lived through enough defensive change at Penn State to know what constant turnover feels like. Manny Diaz ran the unit in his first season, Tom Allen took over in his second, Jim Knowles followed in his third, and now D’Anton Lynn is coordinator No. 4 in four years.
What stood out to Rojas right away wasn’t a blitz package or a new front. It was that Lynn wanted to hear from the players.
“He’s (Lynn) even coming back to us players and asking for advice so he can get better as a coach,” Rojas said.
That kind of approach is shaping the early feel of Penn State’s defense. Rather than forcing the roster into a coach’s preferred ideas, Lynn appears to be starting with what this group already does well and building from there.
“At the end of the day, he wants to call the plays that we’re best at, not what he likes,” Rojas said. “I think that’s a big change for us.”
Penn State is also leaning toward a four-down base after new head coach Matt Campbell became associated with the 3-3-5 at Iowa State. The obvious trap would be trying to jam Campbell’s old identity or Lynn’s previous system onto a new roster. The better path, as Rojas describes it, is to identify the strengths in the room, teach them clearly and expand from there.
Lynn has already shown he can adjust. At UCLA in 2023, his lone season as the Bruins’ defensive coordinator, the defense dropped from 29 points and 403.3 yards allowed per game in 2022 to 18.4 points and 301.5 yards. PFF gave that group a 92.9 grade, tied for seventh nationally, with grades above 90 in run defense, pass rush and coverage.
He then inherited a USC defense that had given up 34.4 points per game in 2023 during the Trojans’ push for their first College Football Playoff berth. Under Lynn, that number fell to 24.1 in his first season and 23.0 in his second.
At the 2026 Big Ten Media Days in Chicago, Campbell pointed to that track record when talking about his new coordinator.
“He understands this conference, the style of play and what it takes to build great defenses,” Campbell said. “You’ve seen the impact he’s had at both UCLA and USC.”
Campbell also highlighted Lynn’s Penn State background. Lynn played for Joe Paterno from 2008-2011 and finished with 162 career tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 4 interceptions, a fumble recovery, and three times was an honorable mention to the All-Big Ten team.
That history gives Lynn credibility, but Rojas made clear that reputation alone won’t solve anything in the Big Ten. What matters is how the defense is taught and how quickly players can trust what they’re seeing.
According to Rojas, Lynn has slowed down the installation process, which is a notable shift for a program that has been through a lot of schematic turnover.
“In past years, it’s been kind of a rush to get the defense installed,” Rojas said. “But this year, he’s taking his time, and we’re really getting to know it very well.”
That matters after last season’s difficult transition under Knowles, whose system was known for being complex and time-consuming to install. Penn State never fully got it where it needed to be, and the defense had trouble stopping the run at times.
Lynn’s method is different. He is not just teaching the what. He is teaching the why.
“Coach Lynn has done a great job going slowly, not just teaching us how to do it, but teaching us why we’re doing it,” Rojas said. “I think that’s important for us defenders.”
For Rojas, that has made the learning curve feel more manageable. He’s had a different coordinator every year, but instead of feeling buried by the changes, he sees the pieces coming together.
“I’ve had a different coordinator every year,” Rojas said. “I’ve learned different types of defensive schemes every year, so this season I feel like it’s a mixture of all three. It’s pretty easy.”
Lynn’s best example of that player-first approach came in a simple conversation with Rojas. When asked what he wanted to do, the linebacker didn’t dress it up.
“I just want to blitz,” Rojas told him. “I want to be off the edge, even off the ball, whatever it may be.”
That doesn’t mean Lynn will turn him loose on every snap. It does mean he understands what makes Rojas dangerous.
“I’m at my best when I play fast,” he said, “and I think he’s going to put me in position to do so.”
There is still a long way to go before any of this gets tested in real games. The defense will be judged by how it performs against actual offenses, not by how good it sounds in July. But the early signs point to a coordinator who is trying to make the system fit the players, not the other way around.
After three years of constant adjustment, that may be exactly what Penn State’s defense needs.
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