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USC defensive coordinator Alex Grinch is one of the most maligned assistant coaches in the country. And, finally, after yet another horrific defensive performance against Washington, the school and Grinch have parted ways.
The announcement came just after noon local time in Los Angeles.
USC has fired defensive coordinator Alex Grinch.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 5, 2023
Grinch spent time at Washington State and Ohio State before joining Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma in 2019. He came with Riley to USC prior to the 2022 season, but his track record of poor defense continued.
The Trojans finished outside of the top-50 last year in scoring defense. Many wrote that off due to the fact that there was not a lot of defensive talent on that side of the ball, and it was the first year in a new scheme.
They added talent this year at all levels at the defense, but the results weren’t much better.
That came to a head last night in a must-win game for their PAC-12 title hopes at home against Washington and Heisman-candidate Michael Penix Jr. USC gave up a whopping 572 yards and 52 points, en route to losing 52-42. If your offense scores 42 points, you’ve got to win that game.
As bad as the stats sound, actually watching it was worse. USC’s defense put up basically no resistance, and a subpar running team ran for over 300 yards against them.
On the season, they’re 119th out of 130th in total defense, and 121st in scoring defense. Awful.
USC has three losses now, and their season is close to being over. The Oregon game on Saturday is a must-win to have any hope at all of playing in the PAC 12 title game. Maybe the defense will play well enough to give Caleb Williams and the offense a chance to win. But, I doubt it.
The USC defensive coordinator hire this offseason will be one of the most scrutinized hires of the cycle. Lincoln Riley has to get it right.