From strong staff hires to recruiting, Lincoln Riley looks serious about addressing USC's defensive shortcomings
A Tiger may be unable to change its stripes, but it turns out a Trojan can.
Since USC’s disappointing 8-5 season — where the Trojans wasted the uber-talents of quarterback Caleb Williams — head coach Lincoln Riley was adamant he’d address his team’s continued defensive shortcomings.
We’ve heard similar sentiments from Riley before though, so skepticism was warranted.
After Washington hung another 50-burger on USC in early November, Riley finally fired his longtime defensive coordinator Alex Grinch.
But that was an easy and inevitable decision. And the move didn’t suddenly fix a USC defense that couldn’t cover, tackle or align properly (36 points allowed vs. Oregon, 38 to UCLA to end the season).
Despite the unit’s never-ending struggles (where USC’s already-bad defense actually got worse in 2023), Riley still insisted the Trojans were “agonizingly close” to competing for championships. He talked about “scars” and “learning tough lessons.”
The question was would USC’s head coach finally succumb to accepting drastic changes around his program? Would Riley truly spend the offseason taking action on making the necessary moves — philosophically, staffing and with personnel — to reconstruct a terrible Trojans’ defense?
Well, it looks like it.
After canning Grinch, Riley overhauled most of the rest of his defensive staff, too, and he made a slew of impressive hires for what he believes is a group of assistants that’s “second to no one.”
He plucked defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn from UCLA, got North Dakota State head coach Matt Entz to come take a position coach job, hired former Houston defensive coordinator Doug Belk to oversee a leaky secondary and brought in Los Angeles Rams defensive line coach Eric Henderson in a co-DC role.
Collectively, it’s a great collection of Xs and Os schemers, teachers and recruiters. And a bunch of winners, too. Henderson has a Super Bowl ring. Entz won multiple FCS national championships and Belk was a part of a couple of national title teams as a GA at Alabama.
Lynn, just 34, has mostly an NFL background, but he transformed UCLA’s defense from bad to great (90th in scoring, 74th in yards per play in 2022 vs. Top 20 units nationally in both categories in 2023) in one season. Entz brings a physical philosophy that’s desperately needed in Los Angeles, while Belk and Henderson are both strong position coaches and excellent recruiters.
Especially that Henderson guy, apparently.
Aside from the program’s poor fundamentals and overly complicated scheme the last few seasons, USC also lacked the requisite players on defense — particularly big bodies in the front seven — to compete for championships. It’s exactly why Utah was able to bully the Trojans for the Pac-12 Championship in 2022.
USC’s 2024 roster still has too many shortcomings along the lines of scrimmage, but perhaps help is on the way.
Spearheaded by Henderson’s efforts over the weekend, the Trojans had splashy Sunday on the recruiting trail by landing four 2025 verbal commitments — all defensive prospects.
USC flipped 5-star defensive tackle Justus Terry from Georgia, landed Warner Robins (Ga.) 4-star edge rusher Isaiah Gibson and 3-star defensive end Gus Cordova from Texas. The Trojans also beat out a who’s who list for 4-star safety Hylton Stubbs.
That’s three Top-70 prospects and more defensive line commitments (3) than USC signed (2) in its 2024 recruiting class.
USC’s big recruiting weekend featured nearly a dozen other 2025 All-American prospects on campus, many of whom were defensive linemen. Not coincidentally, the Trojans welcomed former Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald to its recruiting event, where the future NFL Hall of Famer openly endorsed his former position coach to all the blue-chip prospects.
Sure, there’s a long way to go between now and December. Holding onto Terry or Gibson will be a big battle for USC. But what have we been saying about Lincoln Riley’s defenses for years now?
Where’s the beef? Who are your impact playmakers upfront? How do you expect to win titles with sub-par (and soft) units in the trenches?
Quick-twitch, big dudes typically don’t reside in Southern California, so the fact that Lincoln Riley & Co., are willingly dipping into Georgia and Texas to compete for such blue-chip players signifies his intent about making the proper personnel changes to actually contend for championships.
Riley finally looked under the hood and is addressing the fatal flaw that has plagued his teams at Oklahoma and USC.
There’s a seriousness around the importance of defense within the framework of his program that hasn’t been there in past seasons.
He’s hired an elite staff. He’s chasing top defensive line prospects in the Southeast. The Trojans opened spring practice over the weekend, and there was a reported noted difference in intensity and physicality. The early word is they’re going to start tackling more, too.
It’s taken Riley far too long to finally make such necessary moves, but there’s no time like the present, especially with the program transitioning to the Big Ten this fall.
Imagine, Lincoln Riley coaching another Heisman Trophy contender at quarterback paired with a competent, well-coached defense. It’s a scary thought — one that even Riley should wonder what finally took him so long.