After OU fans began invading all things USC I did a deep dive into their program over the last 15 years. I found that their defensive dip began late in the 2009 season, the last time they had an excellent defense. Even Brent's last couple of seasons weren't anything special, as they were still solid against mediocre teams but good for at least one blowout loss per year against still inferior competition.
Their recruiting took a dip as well, averaging in the mid-teens so it was pretty clear why they dropped off. Once CLR came aboard as OC, things started trending back upward offensively and in recruiting but defense remained the same. Even though it was clear that Mike Stoops had lost a step or two, he was still held onto which made me wonder if Bob had gotten lazy and allowed his program to slide backwards.
I had high hopes for Grinch as he did some pretty good work at Wazzu, and Urban Meyer even saw enough to take a chance on him. I know tOSU fans lament the one year AG was on staff (which I totally understand) but that was also the offseason where Schiano left for UT, had to come back, took the Patriots DC job and came back again. Plus I believe Urbs was suspended for the first few games of 2018 and retired after the end of that season anyway so I thought there was a good amount of turmoil that may have affected his performance there.
And then there was OU where he improved their defense from 2018 to 2019 and 2019 to 2020. He did regress in 2021 but that was fresh off the pandemic so again I thought maybe he just didn't have his guys in place. Maybe CLR thought AG would produce those Wazzu defenses on steroids and given our issues preceding last year, he deserved one more chance which turned out to be a mistake.
All that having been said, I don't think Riley is clueless about defense or he doesn't care. Grinch just seriously underperformed compared to what others thought his potential might be so hopefully he learns from this and goes out and gets the best DC possible. As you and others have said, he's a young coach and has had some challenges along the way and I believe is smart enough to grow from this.
I might be wrong but didn't Riley while at Oklahoma fire DC Mike Stoops for giving up 48 pts in a playoff game only to end up hiring Grinch? Now after a short lived stay at SC fires him.
Seems to me the concern and question would be can this HC they hired pick good coordinators?
Yep, who knows. I think we'll have to wait another 3-4 weeks until it's announced (maybe more), unless it's the home run everyone is hoping for, Jim Leonhard. personally, I don't like the odds of getting him. I think Leonhart is a Midwest guy and is going to take his time with his decision. He's going to have a number of options
Grinch is gone, but the pain this coach is going to inflict on USC isn't. He still doesn't get it and he won't.
The next few years are going to be the same embarrassin BS that USC has witnessed the last decade until USC decides they can afford to buy out this loser.
Lincoln is a bright guy and good person. SC is lucky to have him. He's saying and doing the right things, granted late in the year but sticking to what he believes in makes him a good leader. He's right, SC is just a few snaps away from an entirely different season. However there were hundreds of snaps in between which should have rendered those few irrelevant. Here's to a better SC team. They probably won't beat Oregon but will have a solid season finish with Ucla. 8-4.
Isn't it amazing that coaches in the B1G and SEC took over teams that were highly ranked, nationally, in scoring defense but the coach who took over a team in the Pac did not? I wonder how the total points per game in the Pac compares to the other two conferences over time.
It's not looking like a typical 3 year rebuild, no. But I'd also argue that those two teams were not only better than us under their previous coaches than we were, but they also had better access to linemen on both sides of the ball.
I agree that those numbers might be different if Bama and UGA were in the Pac-10/12 but I also think it goes to show just how poorly our program was mismanaged over the last decade. The last time we had a defense that gave up less than 20 PPG was back in 2009. All of those programs had at least one of those defenses in the 3 years prior to their respective coaches taking over.
The argument I was responding to was that Riley had no Rolodex outside of Oklahoma and usc. Texas, Utah, Michigan are not in Oklahoma or USC. They are in fact around the country. Their recruiting effectiveness is not the argument. It can turn into that but that's a different discussion.
ie ( the underlining is not intentional, board quirk)
The guy from Texas coached and played at OU. Coaching effectiveness gos back to whether or not Riley can hire the right guy to lead his defense which was discussed in this thread..s.o far his defensive hires appear lacking overall...maybe because Grinch did that hiring but Riley is where the buck should stop...so far I'm not that impressed with his recruiting or hiring and his stubboness to not cut bait when it's apparent he should.
it's a two game season and SC has the talent to win out
not much else to say at the moment
except that Grinch was a believer from day one when many others were not
time to recruit a DC that can get it done
I nominate Mike Macdonald
After OU fans began invading all things USC I did a deep dive into their program over the last 15 years. I found that their defensive dip began late in the 2009 season, the last time they had an excellent defense. Even Brent's last couple of seasons weren't anything special, as they were still solid against mediocre teams but good for at least one blowout loss per year against still inferior competition.
Their recruiting took a dip as well, averaging in the mid-teens so it was pretty clear why they dropped off. Once CLR came aboard as OC, things started trending back upward offensively and in recruiting but defense remained the same. Even though it was clear that Mike Stoops had lost a step or two, he was still held onto which made me wonder if Bob had gotten lazy and allowed his program to slide backwards.
I had high hopes for Grinch as he did some pretty good work at Wazzu, and Urban Meyer even saw enough to take a chance on him. I know tOSU fans lament the one year AG was on staff (which I totally understand) but that was also the offseason where Schiano left for UT, had to come back, took the Patriots DC job and came back again. Plus I believe Urbs was suspended for the first few games of 2018 and retired after the end of that season anyway so I thought there was a good amount of turmoil that may have affected his performance there.
And then there was OU where he improved their defense from 2018 to 2019 and 2019 to 2020. He did regress in 2021 but that was fresh off the pandemic so again I thought maybe he just didn't have his guys in place. Maybe CLR thought AG would produce those Wazzu defenses on steroids and given our issues preceding last year, he deserved one more chance which turned out to be a mistake.
All that having been said, I don't think Riley is clueless about defense or he doesn't care. Grinch just seriously underperformed compared to what others thought his potential might be so hopefully he learns from this and goes out and gets the best DC possible. As you and others have said, he's a young coach and has had some challenges along the way and I believe is smart enough to grow from this.
I might be wrong but didn't Riley while at Oklahoma fire DC Mike Stoops for giving up 48 pts in a playoff game only to end up hiring Grinch? Now after a short lived stay at SC fires him.
Seems to me the concern and question would be can this HC they hired pick good coordinators?
We are two snaps from being undefeated in this conference????
What drugs is he on?
Two snaps meaning like the coin toss in both games? Like maybe actually showing up for the opening kickoff of both?
Lincoln is a bright guy and good person. SC is lucky to have him. He's saying and doing the right things, granted late in the year but sticking to what he believes in makes him a good leader. He's right, SC is just a few snaps away from an entirely different season. However there were hundreds of snaps in between which should have rendered those few irrelevant. Here's to a better SC team. They probably won't beat Oregon but will have a solid season finish with Ucla. 8-4.
Good interview. This is a great opportunity for Riley to bring in a difference maker at DC. He has enough juice at USC to where money is no object.