A lot of USC fans wished, in their hearts, that Lincoln Riley — maybe with some prodding from Mike Bohn — would have fired Alex Grinch, and that the Trojans would have made a run at Jim Leonhard. We certainly wrote about it and encouraged that line of thought, but it didn’t happen.
Grinch was officially retained as USC’s defensive coordinator on Tuesday, a very unpopular move which will increase anxiety among the fan base and drive national conversation throughout the next eight months, heading into the 2023 season.
There’s a lot to unpack about this move. It’s understandable why Lincoln Riley would do this, and it’s understandable why both fans and critics think Riley is nuts for doing this. Let’s look at the various dimensions of this significant story: