Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1542734
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 6 2 3 before rising to No. 77 in Lynn's first season. The Trojans finished the 2025 campaign ranked No. 49, allowing 350.8 yards per game. All told, USC surrendered nearly 100 fewer yards per game this past fall than it did two years earlier. In addition, the Trojans' opponents averaged only 23.0 points per game in 2025, down from 34.4 the year before Lynn's arrival. "I think he's doing a really nice job," Riley told SI.com last fall. "I think he's getting more comfortable with all things college football. Not just the game, but some of the things that go on outside of the game — building rosters, dealing with players and all that. It's a little bit different than the NFL, and I think he's adjusting nicely and obvi- ously has made a tremendous impact in our program." Lynn is the son of longtime NFL as- sistant coach Anthony Lynn, and he followed in his father's footsteps after a brief pro playing career in the NFL and Canadian Football League. After just one year as an intern with the New York Jets, Lynn was hired by Buffalo as a defensive assistant in 2015 and spent eight seasons in the NFL, working his way up to a role as safeties coach for the Baltimore Ravens. Lynn left in 2023 to become UCLA's defensive coordinator. His unit allowed only 299 yards per game that year, the fewest by a Bruins defense since 1992. It was the start of a quick rise as a col- legiate defensive coordinator, and Lynn's latest move has brought him full circle. Taylor Mouser | Offense/Tight Ends M o u s e r ' s n a m e was one of the first to come up when observ- ers began speculating about which Iowa State coaches might follow Campbell to PSU. A native of Chandler, Ariz., Mouser rose through the coach- ing ranks in his 10 seasons at Iowa State after following Campbell from Toledo as a graduate assistant in 2015. He served as a grad assistant in Campbell's first season with the Cyclones before shift- ing into an analyst role from 2017-20. Mouser got his first shot as a position coach in 2021, when Campbell put him in charge of the Cyclones' tight ends. He held that role for three seasons, adding an assistant head coach title in 2023 and becoming offensive coor- dinator the following year after Nate Scheelhaase left to join the Los An- geles Rams' staff. Mouser was named Tight Ends Coach of the Year last fall by FootballScoop.com after his players combined for 913 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns on 76 catches. During Mouser's two seasons in charge of the offense, Iowa State was somewhat inconsistent passing the football. Start- ing quarterback Rocco Becht completed 59.4 percent of his attempts over that span, a figure that ranks 17th among qualifying Big 12 quarterbacks. Becht's passer rating of 90.3 ranks 15th in the conference. However, the Cyclones fielded an ex- cellent running game. They topped 150 rushing yards in each of their final seven games this past season, the longest such streak at Iowa State since 2008-09. In 2024, Iowa State averaged 31.1 points per game, fifth-best in school his- tory. At Penn State, he'll be looking to re- invigorate an offense that never quite hit its stride in Year 2 of Andy Kotelnicki's tenure. Kotelnicki returned to Kansas af- ter overseeing the offense in Penn State's Pinstripe Bowl victory over Clemson. Position Coaches OFFENSE Jake Waters | Quarterbacks Waters was a natural fit for Penn State, hav- ing served on Camp- bell's staff at Iowa State since 2021, including two seasons as quarter- backs coach. He is also a former PSU recruit- ing target. Bill O'Brien looked at Wa- ters years ago before he ultimately ended Taylor Mouser comes to Penn State after serving as offensive coordinator at Iowa State in 2024 and '25. He was also the Cyclones' tight ends coach for five seasons. PHOTO COURTESY IOWA STATE ATHLETICS