UCLA May Have Found a New Defensive Coordinator

Multiple outlets are reporting that the Bruins are bringing in D'Anton Lynn from the Baltimore Ravens

D’Anton Lynn comes to UCLA with NFL experience, but none as a coordinator. (Photo credit: @Ravens)

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It is important to start with the basic facts as we currently know them, so let’s start with this: at the time of this writing (8:02 AM on the West Coast) the defensive coordinator for the UCLA Bruins is still Bill McGovern.

I feel we have to state where we’re at because everything else at this point is not official. There are reports, certainly, but UCLA has not said anything publicly.

Before we even get to the latest reports, we should quickly recap where we’ve been at regarding McGovern’s status with the team. Back around Early Signing Day in December, I discussed reports that had floated around the program that McGovern would be stepping away from the team following the season due to his health issues. It wasn’t a surprising report given how the past year had gone, and with sightings of him starting to return around the program, it at least looked like he would still be around to help the team in some capacity. Then McGovern did an interview where he stated his intentions of returning next year, and he ended up coaching the bowl game. For UCLA fans, this was all a bit concerning, especially as they had filled their heads with ideas about going after top defensive coordinator options (I will fully admit to helping push this idea, as I listed Jim Leonhard in that December piece). Further reporting indicated that, yes, UCLA did still plan on moving on from McGovern, but the delicate nature of McGovern’s illness had turned it into an HR issue that was not going to be resolved immediately.

I’m going to guess that resolution is coming imminently, however, as reports broke last night that UCLA was set to hire Baltimore Ravens safeties coach D’Anton Lynn as their new defensive coordinator. On3 Sports was the first to break the news, with Bruin Report Online following close behind, and with even Ben Bolch at the LA Times writing about the potential change, I think we can go ahead and say this one has a high chance of taking place.

D’Anton Lynn is an interesting name to take over as defensive coordinator. He comes from a football and coaching heritage, as his father is former Los Angeles Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn. The younger Lynn has no prior coordinating experience, but is considered a rising star in the NFL coaching ranks, having spent the past few years as part of a Baltimore staff behind one of the league’s best defenses, and has spent time on the staffs in Houston, Los Angeles, and Buffalo as well. Lynn played college football at Penn State where he was an All-Big Ten defensive back, but he has no experience coaching at the collegiate level.

Looking over the hire, I’m…cautiously optimistic. It’s a weird sensation, as I spent all of last night and this morning reading various reactions to the news, and so much of it is based on potential projections rather than concrete evidence. A lot of that has to do with Lynn’s age of 33 and relative lack of experience as a coach compared to some other options. Now, age is not an indicator of whether someone will do a good job (the NFL in general has trended towards younger head coaches, while in college Nick Saban is still one of the dominant forces in the sport at 71), but a lot of reactions have projected this idea that Lynn will be an excellent recruiter due to his age. Successful recruiting is more of a mindset issue than an age one, so hopefully, Lynn has the correct mindset on how to go out and secure the commitment of potential players. That said, various reports have mentioned that Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh was not excited to see Lynn depart, which is as ringing an endorsement as any.

From a schematic standpoint, I would imagine Lynn is going to run something similar to what the Ravens have been running under defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald and Wink Martindale before him. The Ravens have primarily been a 3-4 team but have shifted in the past year to something closer to a 4-2-5, changing as the rest of the league has to the rise in skilled passers. One change Lynn will have to account for at the collegiate level is the need to blitz more often, as at the NFL level teams generally just rely on having good pass rushers on the defensive line, so he’s going to have to figure out ways to generate pressure without having All-Pros on the defensive line.

Lynn is going to need to figure out what the rest of the defensive coaching staff looks like. I will start by saying his hiring would seemingly indicate Ken Norton Jr. will be sticking around, especially as a mentor that Lynn can lean on. On the flip side, I have to imagine this could be the end of Brian Norwood’s time in Westwood - UCLA already announced the hiring of Kodi Whitfield as cornerbacks coach, and Lynn himself has experience primarily with defensive backs, which increasingly makes Norwood’s position redundant. UCLA does not have a defensive line coach at the moment, so that could be an area that gets focus.

Finally, I want to talk about what Lynn’s potential hiring does from an expectations standpoint regarding next season. When it became clear UCLA was looking to hire a new defensive coordinator, many took it as a sign that Chip Kelly saw next year as a make-or-break season, or that this was the one change he needed to make to take UCLA to the next level. Hiring D’Anton Lynn, a young coach with no previous coordinator experience, shifts that belief. It is in itself an admission that there is no quick fix to the defense - that there are too many holes from a talent standpoint to make a rapid turnaround. Instead, this feels more like a long play, something of a hope that Lynn can bring a renewed focus on talent acquisition while improving on the scheme enough so that UCLA can be ready to compete in the Big Ten in 2024. This is definitely more gut feeling than concrete information, but considering everything else we’ve seen from Chip Kelly this offseason, the hiring of Lynn fits in to this readjusted program outlook.

In any case, (potentially) welcome to Westwood, D’anton!