Lincoln Riley shares how he pitched USC to new defensive hires

The defensive struggles have been a major storyline for USC the past two seasons, and Lincoln Riley is working to fix that. The Trojans brought in a new defensive coordinator, poaching rival UCLA to hire D’Anton Lynn.

They also brough in new position coaches in former Rams defensive line coach Eric Henderson, linebacker coach Matt Entz and secondary coach Doug Belk. As he introduced those new member of the staff to the media, Riley opened up a bit on what the hiring process was like and how much it has changed since taking over in 2022.

“I do think that we’re fortunate enough to be at a place that you can have a shot at anybody,” he said. “I don’t that that maybe we would have been able to get a few of these guys two years ago when we all first came here. I think the response hiring a staff now versus hiring a staff two years ago was very different. I feel like when we took the job two years ago, it was seen as — I know us taking this job surprised a lot of people. I think there was still a little bit of, ‘all right, you’ve got to go prove the trajectory a little bit. Prove this thing can be what it once was and what some of us think it can be again.’

“I think the last two years, obviously not everything’s been perfect, but that proof has happened. I could tell in not just the people that we targeted, but the people that came after this job and targeted this job themselves. It was just very different.”

After going 11-3 in Lincoln Riley’s inaugural season, USC finished just 8-5 in 2023. The defense, which ranked 121st in the FBS in points allowed per game, was a major reason why.

That’s why he sought out to bring in candidates like Lynn, who directed the Bruins to No. 11 in the country in total defense this past season. The NFL experience that Henderson brings, winning a Super Bowl with the Rams, will also be incredibly valuable.

Riley explained that he simply went after the best candidates, pitching them the idea that they can be a part of returning the Trojans to glory.

“We just decided that we’re not gonna worry about a current job that these guys have,” he said. “We’re gonna go after the best. If they’re not interested, that’s OK. We’ll move on. But I don’t know that one person we talked to didn’t have sincere interest in this thing. Like you said, with a guy that’s sitting there coaching the defensive line for the Rams, you don’t always know that that’s gonna happen.

“You don’t know in this day and age if a guy’s saying, ‘well, I don’t really want to coach college.’ Fortunate for us that everything fit.”

Now that he’s got his staff together, Riley is hopeful the result on the field will come. The Trojans should once again remain one of the top offenses in the country, and if the defense can make strides, they’ll be a contender for the expanded 12-team Playoff.