Why USC’s Lincoln Riley believes in Alex Grinch and the defense – Press Enterprise

LOS ANGELES — When USC’s season came to an end in a stunning collapse to Tulane in the Cotton Bowl, questions turned immediately – perhaps even before the Trojans had walked off the AT&T Stadium field in Arlington, Texas – to the defense, and whether coordinator Alex Grinch could lead the unit where it needed to go.

The Trojans were in the bottom fifth of the county when it came to yards allowed and not much better in scoring. They had done well with sacks and turnovers gained, but the tackling woes of past seasons were not markedly improved.

But in a sprawling two-hour, state-of-the-program conversation with media Tuesday, head coach Lincoln Riley put to rest any questions about staffing changes. He expressed confidence in Grinch, and in the direction the USC defense is headed as the Trojans turn their attention to the 2023 season.

“I fully believe we have the right people in that building,” Riley said. “That is based on projecting things going forward, and the changes that we can and need to make.”

To understand Riley’s thinking, you have to go back to where USC was when he inherited the program, before the Trojans went 11-3, before they were on the verge of the College Football Playoff, before they added an eighth Heisman winner to the books.

Asked Tuesday if any deficiency at USC surprised him last year after taking the job, Riley took a long moment to think through all the different potential answers. The roster was in worse shape than he expected. The strength and nutrition programs were behind the times.

Riley and his staff poured energy into fixing those aspects of the program, plus the typical concerns of installing new schemes, creating a tangible sense of accountability complete with tracking stats, and instilling enthusiasm in a hibernating fan base.

“When you take over something new that needs a complete overhaul, it’s amazing how much there is to do in the first year,” Riley said. “We could have won seven or eight games and then if all the things internally still had happened, you could recognize the progress internally by other measuring sticks.”

But USC exceeded that with its first 11-win season since 2017. And as the Trojans surpassed the original expectations for a first-year coach, new expectations emerged. And when those weren’t met due to the state of USC’s defense, some of the accomplishments of the season were overshadowed.

Much of the ire turned to Grinch, the leader of the defense. And Riley did not quell those questions when he declined to offer a vote of confidence in Grinch following the Cotton Bowl.

On Tuesday, Riley said his belief in Grinch never waivered. But he wanted to examine the film of the season and make sure that belief was well-placed before making any decision.

“Do we see a clear vision and path forward to this being what we want it to be?” Riley asked. “That vision and that clarity is absolutely there. … You can very easily get tempted to make emotional, quick decisions because the rest of the world wants you to.”

Part of Riley’s faith stems back to what he saw Grinch accomplish in their three years together at Oklahoma.

The Sooner defense that Grinch inherited gave up 453.8 yards and 33.3 points per game. Improvements his first season in Norman were marginal, but in Year 2 the Sooners had tightened up to 350.6 yards and 21.7 points, both top-30 marks nationally.

“I’ve seen him be a central figure in an unbelievable turnaround defensively,” Riley said. “It was a broken mentality and confidence defensively that he walked into with sky-high expectations. … And the turnaround that happened there, I had high expectations, it exceeded my expectations.”

Riley also appreciated how Grinch was so willing to point the finger at himself rather than roster construction or injuries or players’ individual mistakes when issues arose this season.

“I know what he’s made of. I just do. And I know what he’s getting ready to do defensively. So I just have a confidence and a belief there,” Riley said. “The reality is for us to make the jump defensively we’ve got to make, the roster’s gotta get better, the development’s gotta get better. I have to be better at my role for it.”

Riley’s hands were full last year, between the aforementioned tasks and figuring out little things like new offices and a new city. And in the Pac-12 for the first time, Riley had to spend more time than usual watching film on offense to prepare for each opponent.

But with some of those first-year inefficiencies covered, Riley hopes to spend more time this offseason and next year focused on the defense, from conversations with staff and players as well as looking at schematics.

“There’s just so much more time and so much more opportunity to, as an overseer of all that, to have more of a presence there,” Riley said. “And I need to do that. I need to be better in it, no doubt about it. … My role with the defense has to be better. Some of it will be better because it’s Year 2. But also some of it needs to be better just because I need to get better.”

Some of the improvements USC hopes to make in 2023 will come down to roster construction. As the 2022 season progressed, Riley noticed how injuries and fatigue exacerbated the depth issues the staff knew were there prior to the fall.

“Typically great groups get off to a good start, they get some momentum. And then as guys go out or as guys get worn down, you have this underbelly of talent that starts to show up and they’re developing through the year,” Riley explained. “And that didn’t necessarily happen defensively. Not having really much of a high school recruiting class the year before, we felt that.”

Riley feels like this year’s high school class helps. USC added nine defensive players, including three four-star prospects that should fill some of those gaps in the depth chart.

And the USC coaching staff has, again, attacked the transfer portal. Jamil Muhammad and Mason Cobb immediately elevate the linebacker position, while the staff found Arizona transfer Kyon Barrs to be one of the most explosive interior linemen they faced all year.

But USC will also need to take strides in developing the players already on the roster.

One of the most frustrating aspects of the season for USC defensively was to repeatedly see unblocked players in position to make a tackle, and then just miss. One-yard runs turned into big plays that turned into touchdown drives.

Techniques will need to be improved, both from a tackling perspective but also from the other 10 players on the field, from defensive linemen closing down gaps to corners doing better work in coverage to free up safeties in the run game.