Ginz Ferazzi
USC football head coach Lincoln Riley knows he has to get his defensive coordinator hire correct if he wants to be at USC long-term after defenses meant two excellent offenses didn’t win anything in his first two years in Los Angeles. And, he thinks the answer wasn’t too far from home, as he poached crosstown rival UCLA defensive coordintator D’Anton Lynn from UCLA.
That’s according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
USC fired defensive coordinator Alex Grinch in early November after the USC defense never improved on their 2022 struggles, despite a bunch of portal additions that were supposed to be an upgrade. They finished the regular season a brutal 120th out of 130 in total defense and scoring defense. Yes, there were some very good offenses in the PAC 12, but 120th out of 130 for a team with as much talent as USC is inexcusable.
In comes D’Anton Lynn, who spent 2023 as the defensive coordinator at UCLA. The Penn State alum served as a defensive backs coach in the NFL, most recently with the Texans and the Ravens. He turned around the Bruins’ defense this year, taking the unit from 89th in 2022 to 11th this year. That’s the kind of improvement Lincoln Riley and USC are looking for. At just 34, he should be really effective on the recruiting trail as well
And, they have to get better on that side of the ball. Despite having the likely top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft in Caleb Williams at quarterback the last two years, they’ve eight games total the last two years with almost all of the losses falling squarely on the defense. USC committed a lot of money to Lincoln Riley, but the Trojan faithful were already growing restless this year with the frequent awful defensive performances.
USC has the resources to hit the transfer portal hard, and they need to, because Coach Lynn has a lot of holes to fill.