Lincoln Riley: USC defense is hungry to improve

Lincoln Riley recognizes that the USC defense will have to follow their offense’s lead if the Trojans are to find success under his watch.

Leaky defenses were the bugaboo of Riley’s Oklahoma teams, but they improved by leaps and bounds towards the end of his tenure. Now, the freshly-minted USC leader will be hoping to have a faster process at his next stop.

“We’ll scrap. I mean, there’s no question about it. I’ve seen a group that’s very hungry to improve,” stated Riley. “Listen, I’ve got a lot of confidence because I watched this whole scenario unfold from 2018 to 2019 at the previous spot.

“Watched the defense that has lost its confidence and wasn’t playing with the same edge. Then all of a sudden, we flip around and the next year the defense is the strength of our football team, the strength of a team that won a league and went to a Playoff. So we’ve got the right people there. We’ve added some great pieces.”

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Continuing, Riley spoke about the mentality he expects not just his defense to have, but the entire USC squad.

“I would say we’ve been, when we’re talking about the mentality of the way we want to play, it’s been less offensive this, less defensive this, less special teams this and basically if you play at USC, this is the way you’re expected to play,” added Riley. “That has been important for us, to kind of have that team-wide mentality. Certainly defensively, we know how it is. It’s just kind of the way football works. A lot of times offenses get a lot of the hype and attention. You win on defense. You cannot win consistently, you cannot compete and win championship if you’re not a really darn good defensive football team.

“So I like the makings that we have, I like the attitude that our guys play with and once again, kind of like we said about the deal before, if we see on Saturday what we’ve been seeing on the practice field, I think there’ll be a lot of excitement on the way the defense is going to be played here going forward.”

Lincoln Riley is an offensive master, but a solid defense could separate USC from all their competition in the Pac-12.

Lincoln Riley raves about Tuli Tuipulotu, his growth as a leader

Continuing, Lincoln Riley and his coaching staff at USC hope to flip the team’s fortunes from a season ago. And while much has been made about the help he’s brought in from the transfer portal, the Trojans had a roster that was plenty talented last season.

After Tuesday’s practice, Riley took some time to rave about one of the team’s star from the previous season, Tuli Tuipulotu, and his growth as a leader.

“I’ve been proud of him, I have. It’s not within his comfort zone to be extremely vocal, and that’s okay. Every leader doesn’t have to be that; in fact, some of the most influential leaders can be ones that are a little bit more by action,” said Riley. “But he’s picking his spots, and he’s being more vocal at the right times.”

Tuipulotu is entering into his junior year at USC. Despite the team’s struggles, the 6-foot-4 defensive lineman from Hawthorne, CA, was a menace for opposing offenses. Last season, Tuipulotu recorded 48 total tackles, 24 solo, 5.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery; he also batted down two passes at the line of scrimmage.