Tag: USC defensive coordinator

Lincoln Riley shows he actually is serious about having a good defense at USC

Lincoln learned his lesson.

As the editor of Trojans Wire, I appear on a lot of YouTube shows, mostly through my partnership with Mark Rogers and Tim Prangley at The Voice of College Football. I also have done media hits with Salt Lake City radio stations, with Tampa-based podcasts, with a radio show based in the Deep South, and elsewhere. When people talk to me about USC football, they often ask me if Lincoln Riley is serious about defense. The reality that he kept Alex Grinch as long as he did makes that question a legitimate one. It’s a good question. To be clear, I don’t mind that line of inquiry. Any good radio/YouTube host or podcast producer would ask that question.

What I got tired of this year was the drumbeat from some fans who said Lincoln Riley will never, ever be serious about defense. He won’t ever win championships. To be sure, Riley still has a lot to prove. However, the idea that he would never field a good defense depended on the idea that he would never fire Alex Grinch, as though the two men were married for eternity.

That marriage was going to end at some point, and it did. Riley had to hire a new defensive coordinator.

If he had hired a mediocre coordinator, then we could all sit here and bury Lincoln Riley, but what about the possibility that he might actually hire a good defensive coordinator? We all had to wait to see whom Riley would choose.

He chose well.

He learned his Alex Grinch lesson. Let’s dive into this discussion and get some opinions from others in the college football world:

USC defensive coordinator search update for November 20, with notes and analysis

Dave Aranda is likely to be fired. Tom Allen is likely to be fired. Lincoln Riley should have great choices for #USC DC.

USC football is a total mess right now. To be clear, the Trojans’ problems go far beyond their defensive coordinator. They probably need to fire strength coach Bennie Wylie, but if they don’t, Lincoln Riley must at least reconsider how he structures his program and organizes his practices. If USC doesn’t change at least one of those two components — strength and conditioning or practice structure — the Trojans are likely to remain stuck. They will continue to be mediocre.

This is why the defensive coordinator search is both important and fascinating, however. When defensive coordinator candidates interview for this job in the coming weeks, they will ask Riley about his methods and his strength program. If the answers Riley gives them are turn-offs, or Riley insists he won’t make changes to his operational philosophy (or both), those elite coordinators might choose to not come to USC. If Riley realizes elite coaching talent is staying away from USC because he’s unwilling to change his larger methods, that could force Riley to make changes on a larger scale.

It will be interesting to see if the interview process forces Riley to make bigger changes, or if Riley already knows he has to make those changes. One way or the other, those bigger changes need to be made.

Having established that key point, let’s now look at the updated situation involving the USC defensive coordinator search. The big story: Lincoln Riley should have a great candidate pool to choose from. We’ll explain why in our latest update:

How much of a candidate is Andy Avalos for USC defensive coordinator?

Here’s another defensive coordinator who is now on the market after being fired.

The Boise State Broncos fired football coach Andy Avalos on Sunday, with the school at 5-5 and in danger of the program’s first losing season since 1997.

Avalos went 22-14 in his three seasons at Boise State, including a 10-4 season that resulted in him being named 2022 Mountain West Coach of the Year. At no point during Avalos’ two-plus seasons was Boise State ranked in the Associated Press Poll; the Broncos’ 19-year streak of being ranked ended during his first season in 2021.

Under coaches Chris Petersen, Bryan Harsin and Dan Hawkins, Boise State emerged as one of the sport’s disruptive darlings, entering the national championship picture, winning three Fiesta Bowls in recent seasons — 2006, 2009, 2014 — and rising to the top five in the Associated Press Poll in five different seasons.

Avalos, a Southern California native from Corona, California, played and coached at Boise State while also having stints at Oregon, Colorado and Sacramento State. He helped Mario Cristobal win the Rose Bowl at Oregon in the 2019 season, the catapult toward the Boise State head coaching job.

Keep Andy Avalos on your list of USC defensive coordinator candidates. We will keep you posted on this search.

Avalos doesn’t rate as highly as Jim Leonhard, Tony Gibson, Zach Arnett, or a few others, but if all of them refuse to coach at USC, Avalos could be a fifth or sixth choice.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire.

Coaching carousel primer for USC’s defensive coordinator search: what to watch for in the coming weeks

It’s that time again!

It’s that time again! USC has to find a coach — not a head coach, but a coordinator. It’s a hugely important search and a defining moment for Lincoln Riley. Alex Grinch got fired, which is undeniably good, but this matters only if Riley and athletic director Jennifer Cohen find an elite replacement for Grinch. Jim Leonhard is the guy most USC fans want. He is also our preferred No. 1 choice as well. However, this is where we have to remind you that a school’s top choice might not want to coach at that school. The interest and desire have to be mutual. If not, USC has to pivot to a second choice, and then a third choice, if the next few candidates say no.

USC needs to be ready and able to have rock-star quality in its fourth, fifth and sixth choices. Cohen and Riley need to have a list in which their various options are all good, and they don’t have a weak choice too high on their menu.

Here is our guide to the ins and outs of this USC defensive coordinator search. It’s a lot more than just having a top target. That’s the easy part. The hard part is when the top target says no and the adjustments have to be made on the fly.

If Jim Leonhard says yes, this is very easy for USC … but we don’t expect Leonhard to say yes. We’ll explain that and a lot more below in this coaching carousel primer: