Lincoln Riley explains decision to fire defensive coordinator Alex Grinch

USC head coach Lincoln Riley made the first big move of his USC tenure regarding assistant coaches this past weekend when he announced his decision to relieve defensive coordinator Alex Grinch of his duties. Grinch was one of two on-field assistants to immediately leave Oklahoma with Riley and come to USC. This past offseason, Riley kept his entire staff together moving from Year 1 into Year 2 with the Trojans.

But poor play throughout the season and record numbers getting posted weekly against the Trojans led to Riley’s Sunday decision. He met with the media following Monday’s practice to discuss the move to let Grinch go and promote defensive line coach Shaun Nua and inside linebacker coach Brian Odom to co-defensive coordinators for the remainder of the season.

Riley said he rewatched Saturday’s 52-42 loss to Washington and didn’t sleep much as he thought hard about the decision throughout Saturday night and into Sunday morning. He said ultimately the decision was his to make.

“I just felt like it was the best interest of our program, both for this year, because we still have a lot to play for — we still have a really cool opportunity in front of us — and for the future that we needed to make the change,” Riley said. “We just simply weren’t making the progress, I think that we all expected that we would make.”

Riley consistently showed confidence in Grinch’s ability to turn around a struggling defense. He again pointed to the idea that Grinch did that at Oklahoma when he arrived. Riley said he turned that side of the ball into a strength during his later years with the Sooners. Riley was asked why those expectations of defensive success never materialized on the field.

“It’s a tough question,” Riley said. “The bottom line is it didn’t get to where he, I, any of or players, any of us expected. And we all take ownership in that…I certainly am not, and our players, the rest of our staff, are certainly not laying all the blame at Alex. Because the reality is, I have a role in that, and the other defensive assistants have a role in that, our players have a role in that, everybody has a role.”

Riley said he “has some thoughts” as to why it didn’t happen at USC, but didn’t feel with games still left to play it was an appropriate time to discuss that.

“Once the season wraps up we we look forward to preparing for next year and the future, those are questions that we’ll have to answer to make sure that we’re heading in the right direction,” Riley said.

Timing of the next USC defensive coordinator hire

The next transfer portal window opens in roughly a month and some big-name defensive players will undoubtedly be available as transfers. Following that, the early signing period will take place in mid-December. The timing will be interesting because presumably, the better defensive coaches will still be preparing their teams for conference championships or important bowl games at the end of November and into December.

Riley said the timing of that is something they are aware of, and they will communicate what is going on to their recruits, but it won’t dictate the hiring process.

“Nothing will trump getting the right person in here,” Riley said. “Because we’re gonna play great defense here, period. It’s gonna happen. It’s gonna happen soon. There’s no reason in the world why it can’t. And obviously, a key is getting that next person in here.”

The right decision for the program

Riley said this was not a pleasant decision to make.

“It sucks,” Riley said. “He’s a good friend. He’s got a great family. Our kids our close. There ain’t nothing easy about it and as much as you wish you could, sometimes it’s hard to separate professional from I think just basic human feelings about one another and their families. I knew it was a decision that was the right decision at this time and point. Certainly didn’t make it easy, but I am that committed, and we are all that committed, to playing great defense here. And whatever it takes to get that done, that’s what we’re gonna do.”