Lincoln Riley is a fabulous offensive mind, but man, did he screw the pooch with his defensive coordinator hire or what at USC? Riley brought Alex Grinch with him to Los Angeles from Norman, Oklahoma when he took over the Trojans last season. Grinch was a noted Air Raid disciple too, albeit one who specialized in slowing down this aerial spread attack. It stopped no one in the Pac-12...
With Grinch being ousted after USC's third loss of the season vs. Washington, Riley and the Trojans have to regroup and come to grips that they absolutely wasted Caleb Williams' raw talent at quarterback. Riley is a quarterback whisperer, one who not only gets the most out of that position group but runs a pretty balanced attack offensively with a punishing ground game. I will give him that.
However, what Riley said earlier in the week about what has to happen defensively at USC going forward is very concerning. While I understand fully that this is not his side of the ball, he seemed to be a bit perplexed as to what it will take to improve the USC defense enough to where the Trojans don't have to play in weekly shootouts, hoping to avoid being Big 12 bad. He is searching for answers.
Here is Riley's quote from Wednesday "about what it takes to have a successful defense" at USC.
If you needed a little more context, here is his entire response from the question being asked of him.
For things to get better at USC, Riley must embrace being a CEO-type of head coach, above all else.
Lincoln Riley's comments about defense should have USC fans concerned
Until I see differently, I sincerely doubt that an offensive-minded head coach will ever win a national championship in this age of college football. No, that does not mean a coach who favors the offensive side of the ball cannot win a championship. It means that he must rescind play-calling, hold the defensive coordinator accountable, and recruit, recruit, recruit, recruit, recruit! This is the solution.
Truth be told, if any Air Raid disciple can buck this trend, it is Riley for two reasons. One, he implements a rushing attack that can break the opposition's will to compete late in games. Mike Leach absolutely hated to run the ball, and that is why Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State never really contended for league titles. And two, Riley is at USC in the heart of Los Angeles.
In short, trying to scheme your way to victory is not going to cut it against the very best and most talented teams in the Power Five. The schematics programs like Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State run are not that complicated, mostly because they have elite athletes at pretty much all positions and do not really need to do it. Riley will need to put an emphasis on defense and stock the bare cupboard.
I am not saying go Pete Carroll because that is not fair to either guy. What I am saying is for Riley to embrace the CEO-type of leadership style like Urban Meyer did for years at Florida and Ohio State, or like what Dabo Swinney does at Clemson. They do not call plays, which is why Swinney will never go to the NFL, and why Meyer bombed so horribly in Jacksonville. But in college football, this will work.
I do not know who the perfect person to replace Grinch is, but I did mention a few in the wake of him being fired. If Baylor decides to end its relationship with Bears head coach Dave Aranda, pay him every dollar you have... Figure it out. Aranda is soft-spoken, but a teacher at his core. He will get the most out of somebody else's talent, whether it is Matt Rhule's players or Riley's, but definitely not his.
One way or another, who Riley chooses to hire to replace Grinch long-term will define him at USC.
