USC has fired defensive coordinator Alex Grinch following their loss against Washington on Saturday
Grinch’s defensive unit gave up a staggering 52 points vs Washington, and for the season the defense has allowed an atrocious 34.5 points per game which would be a school record for points allowed per game in a season.
USC ranks 124th out of 133 D1 football teams defensively.
Multiple USC students shared the same message that they believe that this firing was long overdue.
Addison Taylor, who is a Business administration major, shared his opinion.
“I think it was very necessary. I’ve only heard good things about him as a person, and I’m sorry that it had to happen, but the defense was getting to all time record low and it was just unacceptable. Especially after the offseason where the focus was on improving the defense, it seemed to just get worse. So I think it was definitely time to move on to someone else.”
Meredith Amick, who is a Architecture major, thought it was time for a change.
“I feel like just given their performance last season and how the defense continued to struggle this season as well, it was a little bit too late. We’ve already lost a bunch of games. We’ve already dropped a bunch in the rankings. It’s a little bit too late.”
Ryan Chan, who is a Neuroscience major, believed the season has been wasted.
“I think that it was a few weeks too late. Honestly, I know a lot of people were calling for it last year. We are like among the worst teams in FBS on defense. We were like the 110/128th ranked defense and as soon as there are signs of that trend persisting into this year, I feel like he should have been gone. Especially with a chance to compete for the playoffs with Caleb Williams, I feel like the year has been wasted.”
USC has now lost 3 of their last 4 games, and have dropped out of the AP TOP 25 Rankings for the first time in the Lincoln Riley Era.
Defensive line coach Shaun Nua and associate head coach for defense Brian Odom will serve as interim co-defensive coordinators for the remainder of the season.
For Annenberg Media, I’m Hunter Deniaud.