Gabe Lynn - Football Coach

Gabe Lynn

Title:
Assistant Coach, Nickels
Alma Mater:
Oklahoma, '13 / '16
Year at UCLA:
2nd in 2026

Gabe Lynn enters his second season on the UCLA football staff in 2026, including his first as the nickels coach.

As the Bruins’ safeties coach in 2025, Lynn helped UCLA allow just 196.6 passing yards against, which ranked No. 34 nationally and eighth in the Big Ten Conference. Starting safeties Key Lawrence (70) and Cole Martin (65) finished 3-4 on the team in tackles and combined for 7.5 tackles for loss (TFL) and two interceptions. Lawrence also forced a pair of fumbles. The Bruin secondary was especially effective in consecutive wins over Michigan State (Oct. 11) and Maryland (Oct. 18), holding the opposing quarterback under a 50-percent completion percentage in both contests. It marked the first time UCLA accomplished that feat since 2016. UCLA held its opponent under 220 yards passing in all but one game during the 2025 campaign, including a trio of sub-200-yard outings.

Lynn, a former standout defensive back at Oklahoma, joined UCLA from Colorado, where he spent the previous two seasons on staff as a defensive analyst and the assistant player personnel director.

In 2024, Lynn was a quality control analyst on defense with the Buffaloes. He primarily coached the team's safeties, helping the team to a 9-4 overall record and a berth in the Alamo Bowl against BYU. As a team, Colorado allowed just 200.5 passing yards per game and totaled 12 interceptions on defense during the regular season, both ranking top-50 nationally.

In his first season at Colorado, Lynn was the assistant director of player personnel. Defensive coordinator Charles Kelly also tapped into Lynn's coaching knowledge, utilizing him along the defensive line and with outside linebackers.

Prior to his time in Boulder, Colo., Lynn made collegiate coaching stops at Houston Christian University (2019-22), Oklahoma Baptist (2018) and Central Oklahoma (2017).

His lengthiest coaching stop came at Houston Christian University, as he spent four seasons on staff with the nascent program (the Huskies had their first official season in 2014) from 2019-2022. In his first year, he helped HCU tie a program record for single-season wins. He was promoted to defensive backs coach starting in 2020, ultimately spending three years in that role. In 2022, defensive back Coi Miller led the conference with four interceptions and HCU had a top-30 ranking in the FCS with 11 picks as a squad.

During his lone season at Division II Central Oklahoma, he helped the Bronchos to an 8-4 record and a win in the inaugural Corsicana Bowl. Central Oklahoma won its final six games of that campaign. Under Lynn's tutelage, defensive back Stephan Robinson had a team-high five interceptions and defensive back Omari Cole earned all-league recognition.

Lynn was a four-year letterwinner and three-year starter at Oklahoma, appearing in 41 games from 2010-13. The defensive back totaled 116 tackles (84-32-116), eight tackles for loss, two sacks, and four interceptions. He set career highs across the board during his senior year en route to All-Big 12 acclaim, notching 57 tackles, four interceptions and two sacks while playing both corner and safety.

After his college days, Lynn signed as an undrafted free agent with the NFL's Detroit Lions in 2014. He went on to make pro appearances with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League in 2014-15, and also played parts of two seasons in the Indoor Football League with the Iowa Barnstormers and the Wichita Falls Nighthawks in 2015-16.

The Jenks, Okla. native has earned two degrees from Oklahoma, receiving his bachelor's in multi-disciplinary studies in 2013 and his master's in human relations in 2015.

Lynn’s Coaching Experience
2017 – Graduate Assistant, Central Oklahoma (NCAA DII)
2018 – Cornerbacks, Oklahoma Baptist (NCAA DII)
2019 – Defensive Quality Control, Houston Christian University (FCS)
2020-22 – Defensive Backs, Houston Christian University (FCS)
2023 – Assistant Director of Player Personnel, Colorado
2024 – Quality Control Analyst (Defense), Colorado
2025 – Safeties, UCLA
2026 – Nickels, UCLA