Tag: Alex Grinch

Former five-star recruit with Wisconsin connections to enter transfer portal

Should Wisconsin pursue Alexander?

USC defensive lineman Bear Alexander plans to enter the transfer portal, according to a report from On3.

The former five-star recruit recorded 48 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks in Alex Grinch’s defense in 2023. Grinch is now Wisconsin’s safeties coach after USC fired him midseason, giving the Badgers a connection to the highly touted lineman.

Related: Ranking Wisconsin football’s incoming transfers by expected impact in 2024 season

Alexander played his freshman season at Georgia before leaving for USC. The new school in 2024 will be his seventh in as many years dating back to high school.

The potential is undeniable. The Bradenton, Florida native was 247Sports’ No. 50 player in the class of 2022, No. 9 defensive lineman and No. 9 recruit from the state of Florida. But that potential has still yet to fully blossom on the field.

Wisconsin has a clear need at defensive line in the transfer portal for the spring window. The team is razor-thin at the position with only James Thompson Jr. and Curt Neal as experienced contributors there.

Yes, there is a red flag with Alexander’s history of finding a new school every year since high school began. But if Wisconsin can get the requisite buy-in, he could be an impactful addition.

UPDATE: Alexander recently shot down the report that he’d be entering the portal.

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USC football roster decisions questioned by NFL pundits and scouts

Two USC NFL draft prospects might change positions in the pros. It’s as though Alex Grinch had no clue.

If you have been paying close attention to the NFL combine and the analysis and chatter from NFL teams and scouts, you might have noticed that a few USC football prospects might change positions in the pros.

For instance, several NFL teams are interested in working out USC safety Calen Bullock at cornerback. NFL draft analysts are also saying that cornerback Christian Roland-Wallace might actually have a better chance of sticking on an NFL roster as a safety.

Doesn’t that raise a lot of questions about how Alex Grinch and USC managed personnel and made various roster decisions during the 2023 college football season?

It’s bad enough that USC couldn’t tackle well and was often confused before the snap. It’s bad enough that the Trojans were thin on the defensive line and were utterly ineffective in the secondary. Technique was not taught well. Players were not tough and were not developed well by the strength and conditioning program. Yet, in addition to all those problems, Grinch couldn’t put players at the right positions. He also didn’t put the best 11 players on the field.

Other than that, nothing was wrong with USC football in 2023.

Christian Roland-Wallace and Calen Bullock can only hope that after being wrongly assigned by Grinch, they will find a good home with NFL teams whose coaches know how to use their talents.

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An updated look at Wisconsin’s 2024 coaching staff after its latest hire

An updated look at Wisconsin’s 2024 coaching staff after its latest hire

Wisconsin football completed its 2024 coaching staff Thursday with the hire of defensive line coach E.J. Whitlow.

The move was required after former defensive line coach Greg Scruggs left for the same position at Michigan. It was an offseason of similar turnover across the coaching staff, as wide receivers coach Mike Brown moved laterally to Notre Dame and safeties coach Colin Hitschler the same to Alabama.

Related: Big Ten starting quarterback rankings for 2024

Luke Fickell then hired Kenny Guiton and the controversial Alex Grinch to fill those respective positions.

So, the Badgers coaching staff is now set with spring practice nearly one month away. Here is the updated look at Fickell’s 2024 staff after the hire of Whitlow:

UCLA does not hire Clay Helton or Alex Grinch as its new head football coach

Darn.

Clay Helton and Alex Grinch both had coaching experience in the Pac-12. They both knew the Los Angeles recruiting scene and had established local connections. They were both part of coaching staffs which won New Year’s Six bowl games. Clay Helton won the 2017 Rose Bowl at USC. Alex Grinch won the 2019 Rose Bowl at Ohio State and the 2020 Cotton Bowl at Oklahoma under Lincoln Riley. Both Clay Helton and Alex Grinch won conference championships. Helton won the 2017 Pac-12 title at USC, while Grinch won multiple Big 12 titles with Riley at Oklahoma. Both men could have been amazingly great fits for the UCLA football program after Chip Kelly went to Ohio State, but the Bruins instead chose DeShaun Foster, an alumnus and a longtime assistant at the school.

UCLA Wire is covering this story. Let’s talk a little more about it:

A look at Wisconsin football’s entire coaching staff for the 2024 season

There was a surprising amount of turnover on Wisconsin’s staff this offseason — plus the hire of Alex Grinch:

The Wisconsin football program has experienced a surprising amount of coaching turnover this offseason.

It’s not as if Luke Fickell’s team was in the National Championship and had assistants getting promotions left and right. This turnover felt unique, with several assistants making lateral moves to other programs.

Wide receivers coach Mike Brown took the same position at Notre Dame, safeties coach Colin Hitschler moved laterally to Alabama and offensive line coach Jack Bicknell Jr. was moved to an off-field role — though that appears to have been performance-related.

Related: Power ranking all 18 Big Ten football programs after the 2023 season

Brown and Hitschler are significant losses, especially on the recruiting trail. Not to raise any alarm bells. It’s just surprising to see two of the more important assistants move laterally to other jobs.

The real story here is who was hired to replace them. At safeties coach, it’s former USC defensive coordinator Alex Grinch — which fans seem unhappy about.

Here is Luke Fickell’s full 2024 coaching staff as he enters a pivotal year in his tenure at Wisconsin:

Wisconsin’s new safeties coach & co-DC was arguably the worst defensive coordinator in the nation

Alex Grinch’s defenses were not good.

Wisconsin hired former USC and Oklahoma defensive coordinator Alex Grinch to be its new safeties coach last week, and also gave him the tag of co-defensive coordinator. The move directly follows former safeties coach Colin Hitschler taking the same job under Kalen DeBoer’s new staff at Alabama.

Grinch has previously worked as defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at Washington State (2015-2017), as co-DC and safeties coach at Ohio State (2018), as DC and safeties coach under Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma (2019-2021) and in the same position once Riley left for USC (2022-2023).

On one hand, the top assistant was recently fired from USC midway through the 2023 season as the Trojans were on pace to have one of the nation’s worst defenses. On the other hand, he is a four-time nominee for the Broyles Award for the nation’s top assistant coach.

Related: Wisconsin football social media is not happy about Alex Grinch being named Badgers’ co-DC

So, a necessary disclaimer: Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell hired Grinch to be an assistant coach and not the defensive coordinator, meaning he should be judged more for his solid track record of coaching players in the secondary.

In all, it’s a fine hire. It shouldn’t be significant enough to make or break the Fickell era at Wisconsin.

However, editorializing for a second, I still find it hard to look past Grinch being one of the sport’s worst defensive coordinators over the last half-decade — bad enough that the aftermath of his firing is making Lincoln Riley finally care about the defensive side of the football. It is a hire I would not have made, just given the recent history of his teams — plus giving him the co-DC tag puts him too close to the defense for my liking.

Want context? I’ve ranked Grinch’s last five defenses (three at Oklahoma, two at USC) from actually good, to pretty bad, to worst in the nation:

Wisconsin football social media is not happy about Alex Grinch being named Badgers’ co-DC

Wisconsin football social media is not happy about Alex Grinch being named the Badgers’ co-DC

The Wisconsin football program officially announced the hire of former USC and Oklahoma defensive coordinator Alex Grinch earlier today. He will be the Badgers’ new safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator.

Grinch takes over after Colin Hitschler left for a similar position under Kalen DeBoer at Alabama. He does bring years of experience as defensive coordinator, though not the experience everybody may be looking for. The assistant coach was only available for hire because he was fired as USC’s defensive coordinator in early November of 2023 as the Trojans were on pace to have one of the worst defenses in the country.

There is a track record of good years as a position coach, however, as Grinch is a four-time nominee for the Broyles Award for the nation’s top assistant coach with time spent in those roles at Washington State (2015-2017) and Ohio State (2018).

Regardless of his pedigree as a position coach, Badgers fans are not happy with the co-defensive coordinator tag. The fan sentiment can be clearly seen in the replies to Wisconsin’s tweet confirming the hire:

Wisconsin officially introduces Alex Grinch as its new safeties coach…and co-defensive coordinator

Wisconsin’s new safeties coach Alex Grinch will also be the co-defensive coordinator

Consider this an update to our previous story on Wisconsin hiring former USC defensive coordinator Alex Grinch as its new safeties coach.

The Wisconsin football program officially announced the hiring today. The update: Grinch will also carry the co-defensive coordinator tag.

The Badgers’ defense is currently led by Mike Tressel, an experienced defensive coordinator and an assistant under Luke Fickell since 2021 at Cincinnati. The unit ranked No. 21 in scoring defense, No. 39 in total defense, No. 41 in rush defense and No. 39 in pass defense last season.

Grinch’s hire comes after former Wisconsin safeties coach and ace recruiter Colin Hitschler left for a similar position under Kalen DeBoer at Alabama. It also comes after Grinch was fired from USC midway through the 2023 season as the Trojans were on pace to have one of the worst defenses in the country.

What does Grinch also carrying the co-DC tag mean? Who can truly know.

What is known: He has big shoes to fill after Hitschler’s departure, and Wisconsin would probably be best keeping him away from coordinating the defense — just based on his track record in the position.

Alex Grinch and Tackett Curtis, both at Wisconsin, will be on the same team for the second straight season

Alex Grinch and Tackett Curtis both landed in Madison with the Badgers. How about that?

Badgers Wire staff writer Ben Kenney began his Alex Grinch report this way. Buckle up:

“This one is a doozy. Wisconsin is hiring former USC defensive coordinator Alex Grinch as its new safeties coach, as first reported by the State Journal’s Colten Bartholomew.

The long-time defensive assistant was fired from USC in early November after a 52-42 loss to Washington. He had previously spent five seasons as defensive coordinator under Lincoln Riley, three at Oklahoma and two at USC.”

It is sinking in at Wisconsin that hiring Alex Grinch is quite a risk to take. Luke Fickell surprised a lot of people with his decision. What does it mean? One thing is that it reunites Grinch with Tackett Curtis. The linebacker transferred from USC to Wisconsin. Now Grinch is doing the same thing.

A lot of people noticed, as you can see in the tweets below:

Badgers Wire deals with the news that Alex Grinch will coach at Wisconsin

He’s all yours now, Badgers Wire! Have fun!

Our friends at Badgers Wire get the Alex Grinch experience. We lived through it for the past two seasons here at Trojans Wire. Now it’s Wisconsin’s turn after Luke Fickell made a shocking decision.

Here’s a snippet from Badgers Wire’s report on Grinch by staff writer Ben Kenney:

“The stats of his defenses are questionable, to say the least. USC’s 2023 group finished 116th in total defense and 118th in scoring defense, that after finishing 106th and 94th respectively in 2022.

“Grinch does have experience as a position coach, though. He was Washington State’s DBs coach from 2015 to 2017 and Ohio State’s safeties coach in 2018 before being a DC from 2019 to 2023.

“He is set to take the role formerly held by Colin Hitschler, who recently left for an assistant job under Kalen DeBoer at Alabama.”

Good luck, Wisconsin. You will need it with Alex Grinch on your coaching staff. A reminder: Wisconsin visits the Los Angeles Coliseum to play USC on September 28.

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