Alex Grinch makes no excuses for USC’s late-season defense, focuses on future

USC defensive coordinator Alex Grinch isn’t worrying at all about the way last season ended. The Trojans allowed a combined 93 points in two losses to close the season, putting a damper on what was otherwise a successful first year for Lincoln Riley and staff in Los Angeles.

USC was considered a contender to make the College Football Playoff before a 47-24 loss to Utah in the Pac-12 Championship and had to settle for a Cotton Bowl appearance against Tulane. There they suffered a heartbreaking 46-45 loss and gave up two touchdowns to the Green Wave in the final four minutes.

But with spring practice well underway for USC, Grinch sees no point in dwelling on the past.

“You move on to the next day,” he said. “I mean, you watch every play back home and all that stuff. But that’s normal. That’s part of it. Does it stick with you? Again, you’ve gotta move on. You just do. You don’t make excuses. You don’t allow yourself to fall into — ain’t no victims here. You signed up for high expectations. When you win, you celebrate and when you don’t, we circle the wagons and come back and work harder for it.”

The Trojans finished 11-3 last season for their first double-digit win season since 2017. Quarterback Caleb Williams became the first USC player since Reggie Bush (2005) to win the Heisman Trophy as the offense ranked third in the country with 41.4 points per game.

The defense had its bright spots, but certainly could have been much better. The Trojans tied for ninth in the country with 2.1 turnovers forced per game and second in the Pac-12 with 40 sacks. They also boasted the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year in defensive lineman Tuli Tuipulotu. However, they were just eighth in the conference in points allowed (29.2) and yards allowed (423.9) per game.

USC brought in several talented transfers to improve its defense in 2023, ranking third in On3’s Team Transfer Portal Rankings. That includes defensive lineman Anthony Lucas and cornerback Christian Roland-Wallace. With those new additions, Grinch sees no reason why the Trojans shouldn’t improve in his second season.

“Year 2 was coming, whatever Year 1 was gonna be,” he said. “Our expectations for Year 1 were high and we reached some of those. Player of the Year in the conference. One of the top teams in country in takeaways. Those kids won 11 ball games and they deserved it. You can’t just discredit the things that they didn’t do well. You’ve got to give them credit for the things they did.

“From a coaching staff standpoint, you expect the bullets to be aimed at you and you take those bullets that are aimed at the right place and take ownership for it. That’s what we’ve done.”

Grinch will continue to hope developing the defense in spring practice before USC hosts its annual spring game on April 15.