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Lincoln Riley shocked the entire college football world after the 2021 season when he left Oklahoma for USC. Moving from one blue-blood program to another was nearly unprecedented in the history of modern college football.
He had a tough job ahead of him, as USC had fallen into irrelevance under former head coach Clay Helton. But, the accomplished offensive coordinator turned head coach had the pedigree to put the Trojans back on top.
And, they took a huge step forward toward doing that in the 2022 season. A year after a dismal 4-8 campaign saw USC finish the regular season 11-1. They played for a trip to the College Football Playoff against Utah in the PAC 12 championship game, only to get blown out, 47-24.
And, most of their success was due to Lincoln Riley and his quarterback, Caleb Williams. The coach brought Williams with him from Oklahoma, and the sophomore responded with a season that earned him the Heisman Trophy.
But, the defense, under former Oklahoma defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, was not very good. It was in the bottom half of the PAC 12 and gave up 93 points in its last two games after Tulane lit the defense up in the Cotton Bowl.
This is a trend for Grinch, who was let go from Ohio State in 2018 after a subpar defensive season, and his defenses at Oklahoma were never close to elite.
But, Lincoln Riley said on Tuesday that he will be bringing his friend back.
USC will keep Alex Grinch as the defensive coordinator next season.
– USC gave up over 10 yards per play against Tulane in the Cotton Bowl and lost a 15-point lead in the final four minutes of regulation.
USC gave up 93 total points over the final two games of the season.
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) January 10, 2023
I’m a Lincoln Riley guy, but this is a bad choice. Alex Grinch has proven time after time that he is not a good defensive coordinator. Lincoln more or less suggested that Grinch just needs better players. But, it’s not as if USC has worse talent on defense than the 75 or so teams ranked ahead of them on defense. The same could be said for his years at Oklahoma or Ohio State. And, Grinch didn’t even recruit well this year, as USC’s incoming crop of defensive players leaves a lot to be desired.
I hope it works out for the Trojans, but in my opinion, their ceiling is limited with a lemon like Grinch at defensive coordinator.