Of course Lincoln Riley is the man of the hour at USC. He has to agree to the new defensive coordinator the school will hire. He will be the boss of his new coordinator. He will almost surely allow his coordinator to call the shots on defense, but this is Lincoln Riley’s program. The coordinator answers to the head coach, not the other way around. Riley’s reputation is most squarely on the line in this hire. We all know that. Yet, let’s not forget that another person at USC has a lot riding on this decision.
Jennifer Cohen, as much as Riley himself, needs to land the right defensive coordinator to replace Alex Grinch.
It is well worth remembering that at Washington, Cohen hired Jimmy Lake as Chris Petersen’s replacement, but failed to make sure Lake hired a good offensive coordinator. Lake’s pick of John Donovan turned into a disaster.
Cohen made a mistake there, but that mistake is valuable experience. It should increase the odds that Cohen won’t let this defensive coordinator search turn into a failed venture. Cohen will insist on quality at the position and will make sure Riley doesn’t settle for mediocrity the way he did with Grinch (a person Cohen didn’t hire since she was at Washington two years ago).
At least, that’s what we hope will happen.
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