Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1545675
A U G U S T 2 0 2 6 5 9 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T H E D E F E N S E / / / / / / / the ability to control the ball. The dif- ference is that there's more talent. The receivers are better, the quarterbacks are better. It's probably because people are recruiting more nationally now, but that's been the biggest change. The style is the same, but the skill positions have gotten better. BWI How has your defensive plan come together this offseason? LYNN Our goal in the spring was to build a strong foundation as far as how we play. And then from a schematic stand- point, we're not going to install every- thing. We want to install our core con- cepts, and then from there, what are we best at? Where are our holes? After that, we can complete the package. BWI How has that been going? LYNN It's been go- ing good. The guys got better. We got a good feel for who we are from a person- nel standpoint — our strengths, where we might have some holes. We had some guys who weren't able to get out there this spring [because of injuries], and some of those guys are going to play a lot. Getting them out there this fall is going to help, but I feel like we've got a good grasp of who we are as a defense. BWI What do you see as the strength of this defense? LYNN I think a strength of ours is just that between the Penn State players who stayed and the guys we got in the portal and then the kids who came from Iowa State, we have a very mature, high-IQ team. Some of the kids at Penn State, I'm the fourth DC they've had. And the previ- ous DCs were very good. They ran very good defenses. The guys have just been exposed to so much football, they're al- most like miniature NFL players. We were probably able to do more this spring than I thought. Some of them picked stuff up a little bit quicker than I thought. We were able to cross-train guys a little bit sooner, and that's because they have such a strong foundation. BWI What is the evolution like from summer to fall? Are you learning more about what guys can do as they get more confident in the system, or are you at a point where you have to say, okay, we need to make decisions about what we're going to be? LYNN You have to make decisions about who we're going to be, and now it's about the players. What skill sets do these guys have? What positions can they play? Do we have guys with the position flex- ibility to play a couple different spots? It's a matter of identifying those guys and being able to make sure they're al- ways on the field and trying to keep our best 11 on the field. If we're in a five-DB package, we want to have our best five DBs, not just two corners, a nickel and two safeties. Who are our best five DBs? When we go from a 4-2-5 to a 4-3, we want to make sure that next inside line- backer is our best inside linebacker, not just the next guy who's up because on the depth chart, he's the Sam or the Will. We want the third-best inside linebacker. BWI How have the Iowa State line- backers adjusted to a four-down front after playing in a 3-3 defense previously? What have you seen from those guys, from both the mental side and in terms of having to do certain things more often than they did previously? LYNN I would say it's been an adjust- ment, but they picked it up fast, and it's something they're excited about. With the type of defensive tackles that we're going to try to get and that we have now, and the way we're playing up front, it takes less of a toll on their bodies. Hope- fully, they're not taking on as many guards. But just playing behind a four-down, sometimes a five-down front, has freed those guys up more. They're all smart. They all have great instincts. Seeing how that front makes their life a little bit eas- ier, they're completely bought-in. BWI What's it been like coaching with Matt Campbell? LYNN It's been awesome. It's been ev- erything I expected, plus more. He has a way of making everyone in this building feel important, and he's the same person every single day. The entire building is aligned, as far as everyone being behind him. When you have a head coach like him, with his leadership style, it's hard not to want to do it for him. That's the vibe you get in the building. BWI What's it been like being back at Penn State? The last time, you were here as a student-athlete. Penn State fans had been wanting to see you come back, and now you're here. LYNN It's been awesome. It really didn't hit me un- til we first started s p r i n g p ra c t i c e . We're out there on the field with the guys, and then just seeing the guys in the Penn State uniform, seeing Kooper Ebel in No. 8 [Lynn's jersey number during his play- ing days], I was feeling like I was literally just out here. It's crazy that I'm coaching these guys right now at Penn State. That was my pinch-me moment. BWI It's interesting seeing these sorts of full-circle moments. When you're a student here, life begins and ends on campus. Beaver Avenue is as far as you go into the town. But being here as a pro- fessional, there's more of a community aspect to daily life. LYNN It's a side of State College I didn't see when I was a student here. I lived on campus, and then when I moved off cam- pus, I was in Centre Court. The only time I left campus was to go to Target. Other than that, everything was either on cam- pus or downtown. So now to have my wife here with our three kids and just to really see what State College has to offer, it's a great place to raise a family. ■ "We have a very mature, high-IQ team. Some of the kids at Penn State, I'm the fourth DC they've had. … The guys have just been exposed to so much football, they're almost like miniature NFL players. " L Y N N