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: