Lincoln Riley vowed to fix the Trojans defense,

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Two years in the past, a day after he determined to fire Alex Grinch as USC‘s defensive coordinator, Lincoln Riley made a promise to those concerned about the future of the Trojans’ protection.

“I have complete belief, conviction. We will play great defense here,” the coach said in November 2023. “It is going to happen. There’s not a reason in the world why it can’t.”

Two years later, another defensive coordinator is out the door at USC. The day after Grinch’s substitute, D’Anton Lynn, left to take the same job at Penn State, Riley stood in entrance of reporters, assuring everybody once again that soon enough, USC can be great on that facet of the ball.

“The arrow,” he said Tuesday, “is pointing straight up.”

“The opportunity for us to make a hire, to continue to make us better and to go from being a very good defense to being a great defense is the goal.”

Yet endurance on that promise is carrying skinny, particularly given how the season had ended less than an hour before. USC blew a 10-point lead in the remaining 5 minutes against Texas Christian on Tuesday, a group enjoying without its star quarterback, before lacking 4 tackles on a third-and-20 walk-off landing in extra time. The disastrous Alamo Bowl defeat would serve as an particularly sobering reminder that while USC made progress under Lynn, it’s still a methods from heeding Riley’s guarantee.

And now, the protection can have to start again, with a new direction, a new scheme and a new coordinator, who will likely be Riley’s third rent in 5 seasons at USC.

In spite of all that, Riley was upbeat when requested about the unit’s future Tuesday evening. He felt “fantastic,” he said, about where USC’s protection was headed.

“We have the personnel,” Riley said of turning into a great defensive unit. “We’re on an upward trend. And, you know, there’s going to be a lot of interest in this job.
I mean, this will be an extremely, extremely coveted job, and I can already tell by the nature of what my phone’s been like the last couple of days.”

Several potential candidates with deep expertise, as nicely as close ties to USC athletics officers, are anticipated to be obtainable.

Former Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski, who labored at Washington under current USC athletic director Jennifer Cohen, was let go by the Longhorns earlier this month. Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden, meanwhile, labored carefully with USC basic supervisor Chad Bowden at Notre Dame and may very well be trying for a job as soon as next week.

Both coached faculty defenses that ranked in the top 4 in the nation in factors allowed during the 2024 season.

USC appeared sure for a related trajectory after Year 1 with Lynn. The Trojans allowed 10 fewer factors per sport, leaping from 121st in scoring protection under Grinch to 56th in his first season at USC. They bought stingier on third down — 106th nationally to twenty first — and in the crimson zone — 119th to 69th. Lynn was even named candidate for the Broyles Award, given to the nation’s top assistant.

In some respects, USC’s protection continued to take steps ahead in Year 2 under Lynn. It gave up fewer factors and fewer yards per sport. The go rush improved, including 10 sacks to its season whole in 2025.

But the personnel on protection was less confirmed this season — and more inclined to errors. The secondary struggled through stretches. A skinny group of linebackers was often overwhelmed. The defensive inside was manhandled for most of the season, and in each of their three regular-season losses, the Trojans have been trampled on the ground.

Last month, when requested about the group’s inconsistency, Lynn said that USC’s youth pressured him to “scale back” considerably on protection. He really puzzled, in the wake of USC’s loss to Oregon, if he shouldn’t have scaled back the protection even more this season.

“It’s different when you’re teaching an 18-year-old versus teaching a guy who has been at two to three schools who has already played a bunch of college ball,” Lynn said.

Lynn, nonetheless, leaves USC in a better place than when he arrived. The nation’s No. 1 recruiting class lands on campus next week, with a lot of extremely ranked reinforcements on the manner. Talented freshmen like defensive linemen Jahkeem Stewart and Floyd Boucard as nicely as defensive back Alex Graham are rising stars who ought to be prepared to step into vital roles.

But USC will have to exchange three starters in the secondary, including Kamari Ramsey, its best linebacker [Eric Gentry] and its top run stopper on the defensive position [Anthony Lucas]. Whomever takes over as coordinator will likely be anticipated to take a vital step ahead immediately, up against one of the nation’s hardest schedules in what ought to be a decisive season for the program.

Then there’s the matter of Riley’s job security, which may make any obtainable top coordinator queasy.

Yet as far as the coach is anxious, the path to discovering a great coordinator and fielding a great protection isn’t that far off from what USC has now.

“I definitely don’t want to press reset,” Riley said. “I’m excited about the process, and I think it’s going to make us better, I know it will. So, we’ll wake up tomorrow morning and we’ll get on it.”