After USC Athletics fired Defensive Coordinator Alex Grinch Sunday, students voiced their opinions on what the future of USC football looks like with new defensive coordinators and how this may impact the Trojans’ performance against Oregon and UCLA.
Grinch was fired after less than two years with USC. Now, defensive line coach Shaun Nua and linebackers coach Brian Odom are the co-defensive coordinators for the rest of the season. Defensive analyst Taylor Mays has also been promoted to an on-field role, according to ABC7 Los Angeles.
“I just felt like it was in the best interest of our program, both for this year, because we have a lot to play for and we still have a really cool opportunity in front of us, and for the future that we needed to make the change. We weren’t making the progress we were expecting that we’d make,” USC Head Coach Lincoln Riley said in a press conference Monday afternoon.
“I know things defensively through the end of last year and throughout the season, especially kind of mid-season on, have not been what either of us wanted, and that’s obviously why we’re here today,” Riley continued.
Chanel Williams, a junior studying non-governmental organizations, said “We have a great offense, like it’s amazing. We can have the best offense in the world, but if we have the worst defense, then it’s not going to get us anywhere.”
“A change was needed,” said Andrew Ngo, a senior studying business administration. “It was just so crazy to keep doing the same thing over and over again and get the same result and that same result was not working for us.”
The USC Barstool Instagram— a franchise account that focuses mainly on USC sports and culture— said that “the defense consistently fell short of expectations since Grinch’s first game as defensive coordinator, and this season’s performance was disappointingly subpar, deteriorating each week. Looking back, the players had become unreceptive to his coaching and a change should have been made after USC’s breakdown against Tulane in the Cotton Bowl.”
Before coaching at USC, Grinch was the defensive coordinator under Riley at Oklahoma. According to CBS News, Grinch led Oklahoma to a top-30 defense in 2020, but the team fell to 76th in 2021.
Currently, USC has averaged 34.5 points per game and is “the bottom 30 in the country in nearly every defensive statistical category, including 120th in rushing defense and 107th against the pass,” according to ESPN.
“I think right now, [firing Grinch] was the obvious choice to make,” said John Bailey, a senior studying business administration. “I think most of the discussion… through the rest of the season [will be] why it didn’t happen earlier.”
Crash Collier, a junior in microeconomics, said “It was long overdue. Personally, I think it should’ve happened after that triple overtime win over Arizona, maybe even the week before after Colorado almost came back and caught the Trojans… but better late than never, I guess.”
“I’m hopeful that something will be fixed by the end of the season,” said Julia Fung, a senior in international relations and global business and member of the Trojan Knights. “It’s just kind of disappointing that we put this much money and effort into a football team for it to have shortcomings in what this season turned out to be.”
USC surrendered 101 points in the past two games, and currently, the team is ranked 87th in defensive efficiency. There are two more games left — Oregon and UCLA — but USC’s chances of making the Pac-12 Championship Game are 8 to 1, according to Fox Sports.
“If we were in a situation where we didn’t have a whole lot to play for in terms of the conference championship, it might feel a little different,” Riley said. “But, we are still very laser-focused on these opportunities ahead.”
Some students were concerned as the Trojans approach their next two games against Oregon and their crosstown rivals.
“I’m a little nervous about Oregon,” said Williams. “But, I feel like our chances against UCLA are pretty good…I think it’ll be a tight match but I think we’ll come through in the end.”
The Trojan Knights, a USC service and spirit organization, are already preparing to wrap Tommy Trojan in duct tape and bring out the Victory Bell for the USC-UCLA game, according to Fung, a member of the Trojan Knights’ DEI committee.
“UCLA has had a really terrible season, like they haven’t been able to find a strong quarterback, and they just lost to Arizona,” said Fung. “And that will be like two weeks out since firing Grinch, so I feel like that’s a little bit more time to implement some well-needed changes.”
“Both sides are going to be fired up, so I don’t know,” said Collier. “I’m nervous but at the same time, I’m super excited, and I guess I also have confidence. I want to be able to flex on those Crosstown Bruins… Fight on!”