Bruce Feldman speculates on defensive coordinator hires for USC

After another tremendously disappointing season on the defensive end of the football, USC coach Lincoln Riley fired DC Alex Grinch, leaving the Trojans on the hunt for a new play-caller on defense.

On Tuesday, college football insider Bruce Feldman joined the Rich Eisen Show to offer the latest on which candidates USC could consider. He had one particular name in mind to start:

“You know, the big name — I did a story on The Athletic on Sunday night/Monday about — this a big name out there: Jimmy Leonhard,” Feldman revealed on Eisen’s show, explaining Leonhard’s pedigree with Wisconsin.

“Obviously, you know him well, did a great job at Wisconsin, really good secondary guy. That’s a big issue for that team right now. They are really bad on the back end. Would Jim Leonhard want to come out to to Southern California and work with and Riley? I don’t know the answer to that. I don’t think money would be an issue.”

What could be an issue is the stark contrast in overall coaching style going from a Big Ten west school to an air-raid program in California.

“It’s just, when he’s at Wisconsin, complimentary football is a different thing, you know. I don’t want to say it’s a lot easier to be a defensive coordinator in the Big Ten, but in that Big Ten, yeah I do think it is, as opposed to working for somebody who came from the air raid system. Now, it’s not to say Lincoln Riley’s exactly now like what Mike Leech was, but that’s a different dynamic to work as a defensive coordinator.”

As for some different options, Feldman noted a few others who could be nice hires for USC.

“There’s other guys, Tony Gibson, who actually has been an air raid defensive coordinator with Dana Holgorsen. He’s now at NC State, very well regarded. Tony White, who played at UCLA, he’s done a really good job at Nebraska and he has spent a bunch of time on the west coast.”

But again, Bruce Feldman just isn’t 100% sure how well all these great defensive minds fit within a program under Riley that would rather be known for scoring points than preventing them.

“I think there are some interesting candidates, but how they do relative to, you know, if they to make this move, I don’t think it’s as seamless as it is when they work for different head coaches who maybe don’t go attack quite the way Lincoln does.”

Lincoln Riley teams have typically struggled on defense, certainly going back to his Oklahoma days. So perhaps hiring a hard-nosed D-coordinator will be tougher than expected in year three for the USC head coach.