Actions, not words. Deeds, not statements. Coaches can talk all they want about making changes and having a new philosophy. What matters is that they act on what they say and deliver real results.
The fact that USC has hired a national champion college football coach to teach linebackers and develop the defense is impressive in itself. The hire of North Dakota State’s Matt Entz is hugely important for that reason, but also for many other reasons.
Chiefly, this move is so vital to the development of USC football for one central reason: It alleviates any worries that Lincoln Riley was going to retain the previously existing defensive staff and limit D’Anton Lynn’s ability to get his people on board.
It always seemed unlikely that the defensive staff would be retained. After all, it never made sense that D’Anton Lynn would take this defensive coordinator job at USC without being empowered to hire his own assistants. No self-respecting defensive coordinator would have worked with such constraints. Yet, when Lynn made a home visit last week with holdover assistant Roy Manning — a Riley loyalist — fresh questions emerged about whether this defensive staff was going to be retained.
We all know that the portal is open and that the early signing period is not that far away. Staff changes needed to be made quickly. USC needed to continue to show it was serious about remaking its defense and giving players — particularly 2024 prospects at Southern California high schools — fresh reason to become Trojans, not Ohio State Buckeyes or Michigan Wolverines.
The lack of movement last week on a defensive staff created a lot of legitimate worries throughout the USC fan base.
The Matt Entz hire relieves those fears of stagnation and delay. The fact that Entz has won national titles as part of a dynastic North Dakota State program adds an additional point: Not only is USC remaking its defensive staff and giving D’Anton Lynn his preferred personnel; this guy is a really good coach on his own merits.
You can all breathe a lot more easily, Trojan fans. This was exactly the kind of move which needed to happen. Actions are beginning to match the rhetoric in terms of USC being serious about defense.
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