Bryson Shaw meant well. He wanted to stick up for his coach, Alex Grinch, earlier in the season. He told the media following the Colorado game that the players were failing Grinch, not the other way around.
How does that comment look and feel, several weeks later? Not good, as USC football analyst Josh Webb points out:
“It would be disingenuous to say Grinch didn’t have the players to implement his plans this year,” Webb told us. “While most of the recruiting focused on the offense last year, the defense was clearly the focal point not just for recruiting, but also for the transfer window. Many of the best available defensive players came to USC, including Mason Cobb, Anthony Lucas, and Bear Alexander. Grinch might not be working with Georgia’s two-deep, but he has a roster full of players willing and able to make a play. So why hasn’t it come together this year?
“There’s only so long you can continue to vouch for a bad decision. At some point, you have to take inventory of what’s working and what needs much more time in the oven to cook.
“It’s also not just the tackling. The Trojans also seem to be late to arrive, which makes them miss the tackle. This means they aren’t playing with anticipation and that means they aren’t putting in the work during the week. All of those things are bad and are also indicative of poor coaching practices in the lead-up to the game.”
There are so many reasons why Grinch, not the players, has to be held primarily responsible for this 2023 mess at USC.
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