LOS ANGELES — Lincoln Riley didn’t sleep much Saturday night, after another defensive failure, a titanic decision circling his mind.
Alex Grinch was one of the first, in Riley’s move from Oklahoma to Los Angeles, to hop on the plane. Their families – their kids, even – had grown close across a working relationship that became friendship, Grinch serving as Riley’s defensive coordinator since 2019 at Oklahoma. But Sunday morning rolled around and interrupted sleep didn’t wash away the ugly results from a year that in no way has lived up to preseason optimism over a revamped defense.
And Riley pulled the trigger on firing a friend, a decision he felt “was in the best interest of our program,” a decision that mercifully ended a year-plus of fanbase jabs directed at a coordinator who had become a public-facing punching bag.
“I am that committed, and we’re all that committed, to playing great defense here,” Riley said. “And whatever it takes to get that done, that’s what we’re gonna do.”
Riley spoke on Monday, in front of the largest contingent of reporters that have been present on USC’s practice field all year, with a mix of low-energy disappointment and genuine accountability. He’d expressed steadfast belief in his defense and Grinch for months, against a rapidly building collection of evidence – defensive rankings near the bottom of the FBS only sliding further – going so far in early October to criticize members of the media for suggesting a change should be made “the first second there was any adversity this year.”
“Listen – you’re going to go through the whole year, you’re going to have a tough game, you’re going to have a tough quarter,” Riley said then. “Do you respond? Do you show continued growth?”
They didn’t, the mood dour on Saturday night after a 52-point implosion, and Riley notably pointed the finger at himself on Monday after largely dodging a postgame question asking if he’d regretted how he’d handled the defense.
“I certainly am not, and our players, the rest of our staff, are certainly not laying all the blame at Alex,” Riley said. “Because the reality is, I have a role in that, the other defensive assistants have a role in that, our players have a role in that, our other staff members.”
But Grinch’s schemes, and efforts to galvanize a sinking unit, had unquestionably fallen unsuccessful. And for weeks, according to sources with knowledge of the situation, major USC donors had been upset with the defense’s performance; an unenviable position given the donors’ importance in funding NIL-related recruiting efforts.
“There was no way,” one source said, “that Grinch was going to survive this season.”
USC has allowed 42.0 points and 483.7 yards per game over its past six games, falling to 119th out of the 130 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision in yards allowed and 121st in points allowed. The Trojans, who have lost three of their past four games, were shredded for 572 yards in the 52-42 loss to No. 5 Washington on Saturday.
When asked, though, if the decision to fire Grinch came from within the football program or if there was input from the athletic department, Riley responded quickly and simply: “It was my decision.” And it seemed clear, both in the tone and content of Riley’s responses on Saturday, that he wasn’t boxed into a corner – convinced, as he said himself, the decision “was in the best interest of our program, both for this year … and for the future.”
“If we were in a situation where we didn’t have a whole lot left to play for in terms of a conference championship, having an opportunity there … might feel a little bit different,” Riley said.
Thus, there is still a swirl of questions as to USC’s immediate and long-term future, starting with an unenviable trip to Oregon on Saturday in which, theoretically, the Trojans (7-3 overall, 5-2 Pac-12) still have a chance to make the Pac-12 title game with a win.
It’s unclear what’s to come for most everyone on USC’s defensive staff. Donte Williams has had an impressive month on the local recruiting trail, but he has largely struggled to develop home-grown cornerbacks across the last two years. Shaun Nua’s defensive line got off to a fast start but has rapidly regressed in recent weeks. Brian Odom’s inside linebacker group has shown plenty of flashes but hasn’t had a shred of consistency in containing the running game.
Nua and Odom will fill in as co-interim defensive coordinators, for now, and Riley said he would be “99% focused” across the next couple of weeks on finishing out the rest of USC’s season. The goal, however, was to bring in someone who could consistently lead USC to an elite defense, the head coach said.
And with a partly clean slate, Riley fell back on the same optimism Monday that he’s preached since the fall.
“Adversity like this can also bring about some of the best opportunities in somebody’s life if you view it that way,” he said. “… We’ve got a great opportunity right here. The hell with everything else. Let’s go get in the bunker, circle the wagons for a couple of weeks, and let’s see what happens after that.
“We’re gonna play great defense here. Like, period. It’s gonna happen. It’s gonna happen soon. There’s no reason why it can’t.
