USC dismisses Trojans defensive coordinator Alex Grinch

The USC Trojans dismissed defensive coordinator Alex Grinch on Sunday, according to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger. On3’s Matt Zenitz confirmed the move.

The move comes on the heels of USC’s 52-42 loss to Washington on Saturday night. USC fell to 6-3 on the season.

Grinch was in his second season at USC as the team’s DC. He followed head coach Lincoln Riley over from Oklahoma.

USC’s defense was much maligned this season, as it was in 2022. The entire unit was seen as the Achilles heel to the Trojans’ national title hopes, and that proved true again this season.

Ultimately, despite a Heisman Trophy winner in QB Caleb Williams, USC couldn’t do enough in two losses to Utah last year, including the Pac-12 title game. Plus, a Cotton Bowl loss to Tulane.

Grinch was largely to blame, as he was at Oklahoma due to Riley’s elite offense year after year. But, as usual, Riley was questioned about his team’s defense year after year as well.

Alex Grinch dismissed as USC’s defensive coordinator

Even going into the season, Grinch faced questions about his unit and what could be done to improve in 2023. With three losses and the Trojans giving up 38.3 points per game, it was likely time to make a change, if not past due.

“Yeah, I think every season is new,” Grinch said in August. “You’re probably referencing the three losses just on the same note, we can reference the 11 wins  … So you know, what you gotta do is you got to make sure you coach in ‘23. You got to coach these guys. New stars and old stars and all that and they have theirs we got ours, but also those are tremendous opportunities to reference and learn from.” 

Grinch was upfront about USC’s defensive struggles last season, including the fourth quarter where the Trojans let some games slip away.

“Obviously the fourth quarter deficiencies last year, to think that we haven’t highlighted those and circled that and made a major emphasis is inaccurate,” Grinch said. “Which had a major effect … 30 minutes, 45 minutes changes (in a game) … I’m just referencing that as much as anything because you got to learn from those things … We understand it starts this weekend.”

Without improvement from Grinch’s unit, USC ultimately dismissed the coordinator. The search is on for his replacement, but there might not be any quick fixes for the Trojans for the remainder of the season.