Alex Grinch shares his personal expectations for 2023 season

Alex Grinch has his own expectations for the USC defense going into the 2023 season. The Trojans’ defensive coordinator came under fire last year, particularly in USC’s three losses.

The offense is certainly not a problem, almost all of the time at least. It helps when Lincoln Riley is the head coach and Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams is at quarterback.

But Grinch, who’s heard the outside noise about USC’s lack of a defense, detailed what he learned from last year to this year.

“Yeah, I think every season is new,” Grinch said. “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.”

Alex Grinch addresses idea he’s coaching for his job

Grinch began to feel the heat after giving up 43 and 47 points to the Utah Utes in two meetings.

Then the Trojans gave up 46 in a shocking loss to Tulane in the Cotton Bowl.

“I think 21 years in the business, I think you’re coaching for your job all the time,” Grinch said when USC opened fall camp.

Rarely has that been more true for the USC defensive coordinator than in 2023. USC finished eighth in the Pac-12 in both rushing and passing defense last season, keeping the team from its ultimate goal.

“I think pressure comes with it,” Grinch said. “I think about whether it was at Missouri or Washington State or Ohio State or Oklahoma, I think I know I don’t feel any different than any of those other years as far as pressure football coaches are under.

“I think most coaches would tell you the same thing, that’s part of it. The two things you do is obviously the most recent thing would be the previous year, going through that and attack it from the standpoint what you did well, what you need to improve on. Then you’ve got to weight that in terms of coaching your current team, which is really, really important that you don’t get lost in the sauce that you’re not coaching the ’22 team any more in this particular instance.”