Matt Leinart: D’Anton Lynn has exceeded expectations at USC

Coming into the 2024 season, there were questions about the USC Trojans defense. However, for former Trojans quarterback Matt Leinart, new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn has already exceeded expectations.

Leinart explained on The Joel Klatt Show that given how bad the defense was last season, it wasn’t necessarily hard to show improvement. However, it goes beyond just being better than they had been on that side of the ball.

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“He has [exceeded expectations],” Matt Leinart said. “We were the worst-ranked defense last year in college football. So, the bar was set pretty low. But I think everybody was excited about his personality, his demeanor, obviously, what he did at UCLA, turning that into one of the better defenses in the country last year. We got some good players, some guys like Anthony Lucas didn’t do much last year. He’s been really good through two weeks. Eric Gentry is all over the field. They got better. They got better players.”

D’Anton Lynn came to USC as a replacement for Alex Grinch. He previously had been the defensive coordinator at UCLA and had been a defensive assistant in the NFL.

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“I was on the sideline for that game in the pregame and I talked to Coach [Eric] Henderson and I talked to a couple other guys,” Leinart said. “They were like, ‘Wait until you see this. It is light years ahead of where it was last year.’ Fundamentals. Just basic stuff and I think it’s in the way they’re practicing and the way he’s teaching.”

Through two games, USC has the 18th-ranked scoring defense, giving up just 10 points per game. The Trojans are also the 55th-ranked total defense, allowing 305.5 yards per game. It’s a small sample size but still massive improvement from last season when the defense gave up 34.4 points and 432.8 yards per game.

“So, he has been far better than any USC fan or alum could’ve imagined,” Leinart said. “Now, can we sustain it? With the schedule you mentioned it’s still brutal and that starts this weekend.”

This week, D’Anton Lynn and USC will need to be ready for a challenging matchup against the defending national champion Michigan. This comes as the Wolverines are making a quarterback change, adding to the challenge of game planning for the game. It’s a game with plenty of hype around it and it’s one that will likely have a major impact on how both teams are perceived moving forward.