Lincoln Riley shares goal for next USC defensive coordinator

USC made a major coaching change following their 52-42 loss on Saturday to Washington, firing defensive coordinator Alex Grich in his second season in the program and his fifth alongside head coach Lincoln Riley.

There’s no question that the Trojans’ defense has been a weakness of their team the last two seasons, as defensive line coach Shaun Nua and inside linebackers coach Brian Odom will serve as interim co-defensive coordinators for the rest of the season.

The Trojans have yet another tall task this weekend as they face No. 6 Oregon, and following practice on Monday, Riley was asked what he will be looking for in his next defensive coordinator.

“I definitely get the question, I honestly just with the week ahead and really with the next couple of weeks ahead don’t know that I want to just start laying out a bunch of specifics,” Riley said. “I know obviously I will, obviously in the last several hours I’ve spent a little bit of time thinking about it. A majority of my time is obviously getting ready to go play Oregon.”

It’s best the USC defense keeps its focus on the Ducks, regarded as one of the best one-loss teams in the country that currently boasts college football’s top-scoring offense averaging 47.4 points per game.

But it is hard to not look ahead and start thinking about the future of the Trojans’ defense, as they’ll eventually look to usher in a new era where there defense is a sign of strength versus a glaring achilles heel that’s hindered them from reaching exciting heights.

“I think very simply put though, I think what I said before, our goal here is to be an elite defense. One that is a huge part of this team, that is a strength of this program, is one that leads us to championship opportunities year in and year out, and finding the right person to get that done is certainly where it will start,” Riley said.