Urban Meyer Comments on Grinch

Calls him an excellent coach. We haven't seen that at USC yet.

On “Urban’s Take with Tim May,” Meyer recounted that he at one point hired Grinch to work under him at Ohio State. And while the Trojans were subpar defensively in 2022, Meyer thinks they’re already improved in 2023.

“Yeah, they were bad last year. I think they’re better this year. I think he’s an excellent coach. I think historically, when you have a coach like Coach [Lincoln] Riley who calls plays and he’s really, historically, the defenses aren’t that good,” Meyer said.

Meyer thinks, to some extent, Riley might need to dig in more on the defense as the head coach.

“But, and I don’t know Lincoln Riley very well, got a lot of respect for him, but I just think that, you know, you need to have your hands on that defense a little bit,” Meyer said.

Riley hired Grinch away from Ohio State in 2019, bringing him in to be the Oklahoma defensive coordinator. His first few defenses at Oklahoma were among his best, but the results have since slipped.

The defenses Grinch has coordinated either himself or in part stack up as such over the years nationally in total defense.

2015, Washington State: 84th

2016, Washington State: 62nd

2017, Washington State: 16th

2018, Ohio State: 72nd

2019, Oklahoma: 38th

2020, Oklahoma: 29th

2021, Oklahoma: 76th

2022, USC: 105th

So far, though four games in 2023, USC ranks No. 69 nationally in total defense, tied with Minnesota. The Trojans have given up 10 touchdowns so far this season and sits tied for No. 44 in scoring defense, giving up exactly 20 points per game.

If the Trojans can live in the middle of the pack on defense, even, a likely Top 10 offense can do most of the heavy lifting. Meyer thinks it will get there, noting a team can win without defense, but will need stops at some point to win championships.

“I would always say, ‘You want to look at the salaries of our coaches, the defensive coaches get paid more.’ Because we’re going to run our offense, I want to hire the best defensive coaches I can get my hands on because the chance — you can win, but you can’t win it all unless you play good defense. I believe in Alex Grinch. I know him. I really like the guy. I really admire his coaching ability. He’s an excellent coach. I think this is program-wise, I think they’re getting better,” Meyer said.