Alex Grinch breaks down USC's Speed D

USC fans won’t have an opportunity to see the new USC defense being installed by defensive coordinator Alex Grinch until the Trojans take the Coliseum turf for the Spring game on April 23. But the new head man on that side of the ball broke down his defense a bit during Monday night’s Trojans Live radio show.

“The calling card has been effort and speed,” Grinch said.

It’s a defense that earned the moniker “Speed D” during Grinch’s stops at Washington State and Oklahoma.

“One of the things we do from a coaching standpoint is we say if an individual gives us their max effort and plays at max speed, they’re going to have success from an individual standpoint,” Grinch said.

It starts up front in Grinch’s scheme. The defensive linemen are given one gap to attack in an effort to get upfield and into the backfield as quickly as possible to disrupt plays.

” We expect to have production in our front and so we start there,” Grinch said. “How can we get our guys to get in the backfield and have production? And then when we’ve gotten it right, once again, we’ve had a lot of success.”

Third Time’s a Charm

This will be the third time Grinch will install this defense from scratch. He found success with the Cougars and Sooners, elevating those defenses immediately upon his arrival. He did admit Monday night that there have been some hiccups — “When we’ve gotten it wrong, we’ve had some tough Saturdays” — but that all his past experiences should help with this install.

“You kind of know some of the issues that present themselves early on,” Grinch said. “You also learn from your failures and say, okay, well, when we got it wrong, why? And then you and you step into a new opportunity with some of that knowledge as well, which if you do it right, you gain confidence from. And then hopefully the players feel it.”

It’s a defense that can bring multiple looks and challenges offenses with speed and agility. It’s another one that consistently will “do what they do” and try to get it done at a high level.

“We stick to that philosophy of sound, simple, repeatable, adaptable,” Grinch said. “You know, not the group that kind of draws stuff in the dirt each week. [We] put our guys in position to be successful and then hopefully let it rip. And then your production can come with it.”

Obviously, there will be a few wrinkles from this defense. There are different players and talents on this roster compared to his previous stops. And playing in the Pac-12, plus having Notre Dame on the schedule, means different style offenses will line up against this USC defense. Grinch also keeps up with the changing landscape of college football offenses.

“If you just say, ‘Same as,’ you’re going to miss something,” Grinch said. “Obviously different individuals, different time in college football. As much as things stay the same, things also have a tendency to change over time in terms of what offenses do. But the reality from a defensive standpoint is making sure that you put guys in position to be successful.”

Supporting Riley’s Offense

There are plenty of expectations for head coach Lincoln Riley’s first season with the Trojans. The one at the top of the list might be for the offense to score at will against opposing defenses. That could make life difficult on Grinch’s side of the ball. But he doesn’t see it that way.

“How do we flip that from what could otherwise be a disadvantage?” he said. “Can you beat USC counting by threes? There’s an innate pressure on an offense that we go against. And so from that standpoint, can we steal possessions? And that’s the takeaway aspect of things.”

Grinch said he prefers the active term “takeaways” to the more passive “turnovers.”

“We’re going to take the ball away from the offense and get it back to our offense, which will increase possessions,” Grinch said. “But the key thing too is, we chose to be defensive coaches and we chose to be defensive players. So unless we’re scoring touchdowns, we better prevent them. To wave the white flag and say it’s tough to play defense, that’s just not the way we choose to go.”