Fun.

I know no one wants to hear this right now, but I said it last week and I'm going to say it again. The game against Washington really didn't matter. We were already out of the playoff and they are almost definitely going to make the Pac 12 Champ game. If we beat Ore and Utah loses at Washington this weekend, we control our destiny in the Pac 12. I get that beating Ore is unlikely, but I'm just pointing out the loss to Washington really didn't matter all that much and the Rose Bowl is still technically in play, for what it's worth.

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Full story:

…because he, to this point in his head coaching career, has paid zero attention to the defensive side of the ball. Why am I wrong? I’m open to dissenting opinions.

Who has been better for SC football?

Trojans got 25 of 36 first-place votes in the Pac-12 preseason poll:

The 2025 high four-star was at USC over the weekend and loved it:

Story here with Marcelles Williams and Marquis Gallegos quotes:

Riordan planned to commit to USC far before Grinch's firing:

Pac 12 tv dude Nigel is making some great points about the terrible defensive playing calling by Grinch. He made a few good points but did a big breakdown of how they went to an “inverted cover 2” on that last play of the first half SJ got the TD and why (in a lot of detail) it was such a bad call. It was a great breakdown and he was basically blasting Grinch for calling it. Basically both Max and Domani were doing exactly what the play call was. It wasn’t either of their faults.

The revised/rewritten column:

The Mike Leach coaching tree will never win anything substantial. I loved Leach, he was an entertaining coach and an innovator but his system won’t win consistantly against the big boys. Just look back over the last 30 years of college football national champions, there is a definite blueprint for winning at the level. Having a dominate offensive line, a power running game and a tough, nasty defense. Go get a coach who has a proven track record with this blueprint and SC will be back. Until then, this experiment will continue to fail year after year.

from The Athletic:

Jim Leonhard, Illinois defensive analyst
D’Anton Lynn, ucla DC
Tony White, Nebraska DC
Tony Gibson, NCState DC
Tim DeRuyter, T.Tech DC
Joe Rossi, Minnesota DC
Joe Harasymiak, Rutgers DC

Feldman is one of the best in the biz & always has great Intel on these things…..

I really like that there is a strong Big Ten feel to this list…..

Lincoln Riley had no opening statement tonight but took questions for 9 minutes.

Then, they brought up seven players all at once with like 3-4 chairs. It was very awkward. Caleb Williams initially sat on the floor behind the table until he was encouraged to stand up. It was just very awkward. It was Caleb, Mason Cobb, Shane Lee, Calen Bullock, Justin Dedich, Tahj Washington and maybe I'm forgetting someone.

I asked Cobb what Alex Grinch said to defense after the game and he said nodded to indicate nothing and said "What is there to say?"

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USC has confirmed that Alex Grinch is being "relieved of his duties" as Trojans defensive coordinator. Shaun Nua and Brian Odom will serve as co-defensive coordinators. Taylor Mays is being elevated to safeties coach.

Dude has made plenty of money so he can take care of his family, but I wonder what his next job would be...

Who would hire him as an analyst?...I couldn't take anything he says serious...

Make your choice known. Choose from the list of talked about candidates or list your own before the inevitable happens and we are left with a list far shorter. Below is a brief thought or two about why that person should or shouldn't be considered for the position. So who do you believe can really change USC's defense?



*This post may be updated with more "candidates" as time goes by to keep discussion going"





Jim Leonhard (The Fan Favorite)

Spent 7 years as Wisconsin's defensive coordinator and 7 games as their head coach in an interim role. He's currently an analyst at Illinois. Wisconsin's defense ranked third in the nation in overall team defense in 2017 and fourth in 2021. Wis finished '22 thirteenth in the nation in Yards Per Game given up but 6th in the B1G. He's interviewed for NFL jobs as recently as last off-season.



Trent Bray (The Close to Home Choice)

Oregon State defensive coordinator signed a 2 year deal worth 1.4m in '22. There are at least three Pac-12 defensive coordinators who make more than $1 million per season in USC’s Alex Grinch, Oregon’s Tosh Lupoi ($1.7 million) and Utah’s Morgan Scalley ($1.4 million). Grinch’s salary is thought to be in the $2 million range, but USC, as a private school, does not release salary information.



Other Pac-12 DCs who make close to $1 million per year are UCLA’s Bill McGovern ($900,000) and California’s Peter Sirmon ($875,000). With OSU potentially conference less come the end of season, their entire coaching staff may just be putting their resumes on tape this year. And what a resume it is for Bray: OSU ranks 62nd in Stop Rate with a 63% rating, good enough for 5th in the conference.



Dave Aranda/Ron Roberts (The Fired Help)
The hottest (head coaching) seat in the country, may be the best defensive coordinator available for years to come. IF he gets let go due to his team's offensive struggles, USC could snatch him up with a loaded offer (At LSU he was paid $2.5m). Although he's renowned, Baylor currently ranks 111th in Stop Rate, 93rd in team defense and gives up almost 400yards per game.

Ed Orgeron (The Comeback Kid)
Recently dropped from a rape/misconduct lawsuit, but the stench is still there. But then again, so is the smell of that Joe Burrow led National Championship. He'd much rather be a head coach, but unless Northwestern comes a calling (which they shouldn't given their own misconduct lately), he'll be done spending his $17 million from LSU and looking to work again at DC. And he's already stated publicly that he'd be open to working with Riley.

In case you forgot, Ed was the head coach at LSU from 2016 to 2021 where his (and fellow candidate Dave Aranda) defense ranked 25th, 10th, 12th, 25th, 99th, and 70th in Team Defense.

Phil Parker (Iowa's Most Loyal)
Iowa led the nation in team defense grade (94.3) and paced the Power Five in EPA allowed per play (-0.267) last year. This year, Iowa ranks 6th in Stop Rate with a 77% rating.

Parker’s defenses have finished top-15 in the FBS in EPA allowed per play in each of the last five years and have two top-five finishes in that span. He’s been a semifinalist for the Broyles Award in each of the last three years and should have won it each year just out of respect for carrying that entire team.

He's been at Iowa since 1999 and he doesn't make a million a year. 😵‍💫🤯

DJ Durkin (The Merc)

He recruits incredibly well. That's it. Bad reputation. Not a great coordinator. But he consistently gets high level talent.

Doug Belk (The Saban Connection)
Belk has recently interviewed for the DC position in the NFL. Former GA under Saban in that infamous 2015 staff that included Lane Kiffin (now at Ole Miss), defensive coordinator Kirby Smart (Georgia), position coaches Mel Tucker (Michigan State), Mario Cristobal (Miami) and Billy Napier (Florida) and graduate assistant Dan Lanning (Oregon). Be wary of both. People with NFL aspirations typically hate recruiting. People with Saban ties don't always have success.

"I tried to hire him a couple times," Saban said. "I haven't been able to get to hire him. But he did a great job when he was [at Alabama] and he's having a great career and doesn't surprise me at all."

Joe Rossi (The Best Kept Secret)
Minnesota has had back-to-back top-10 defenses the past two seasons under Rossi. Also 10 of his players were drafted.

If Rossi terminates his deal, he shall pay a buyout of $250,000 if the notice of termination is given during contract current year, and $150,000 if the notice of termination is given during contract Year 3 (2024). He was reportedly a candidate for the Notre Dame gig so he wants that spotlight and upward trajectory.

Bruce Feldman of The Athletic said Rossi is "one of the best-kept secrets in college football." In listing the top-30 college assistants in the country, Feldman has the Gophers DC ranked eighth overall.

Morgan Scalley (The Bane of Riley)
Until recently, Utah was Riley's worst problem. Now it's a little more embarrassing. But that shouldn't stop you from taking notice of Morgan Scalley and what he's done with that Utah defense.

“Scheme doesn’t win you football games. Behavior does,” Scalley said. Looking at the film from last year, there were certain techniques that we felt we were not good enough, whether it was press-man, whatever it is, that’s what we’ve got to do better — the fundamentals and techniques of the game. Tackling better."

Sounds like he saw USC's problem at Utah and addressed it accordingly. The former Broyles Award finalist has Utah 16th in Stop Rate and 18th in Team Defense.

This is an absolute embarrassment and humiliation for any USC fan. Enough is enough with the garbage coaching staff. I’m a very successful businessman and will fricken work for free to be on the staff and will guarantee a better outcome. People, this is simple… We are getting out-coached every single game with this incompetent staff. All we care about is offense and stats, not about winning championships. We can only win games against teams that can score less than 35 points. I look at other teams with 2 or 3 star players that play like 4 or 5 stars. Our 4 or 5 star players play like 2 or 3 stars. And guess what? It’s not on the players, but it’s all on the coaches. I don’t post much, but I’m really disgusted with this program.

… are fans expected to feel relieved that Riley knows what he is doing to make the program better? Or should fans be pissed he didn’t do it last year when it was clear that Grinch was a disaster?

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We got this! 100-99!



Fight on!