USC defensive coordinator Alex Grinch talks tackling, expecting to make the play
No single unit matters more in the Pac-12 race this season than the USC defense. If that group is good, USC should be heavy favorites to win the conference. Even if it’s average, the Trojans will have a better shot than more. We’ll all get our first real sense of that group on Saturday. But defensive coordinator Alex Grinch has seen this group grow and develop since the end of last season. He’s one of several USC defensive coaches who have talked about their excitement level this fall in putting this 2023 product on the field.
“Awfully excited to get on the field with these guys and we understand the challenges starting this weekend,” Grinch said following practice on Tuesday.
A few themes have been consistent this offense when it comes to the defense. The first was finishing the fourth quarter — both of individual games and the season as a whole. The entire program has been using the mantra, “The longer it does, the better we get,” this offseason. That has plenty to do with a team hoping to play a 15-game season in 2023. But it also speaks directly to just how bad the USC defense was in fourth quarters last season. Grinch addressed that directly and players have talked about it as well.
Grinch spoke to two other themes Tuesday, which should lead to tangible results for his defenders. One tweak Grinch made this offseason that he implemented in spring ball and fall camp is having his defenders finish tackles to the ground every day. Teams aren’t able to go full contact or wear full pads every day, but even in tackling drills against pads or other situations, Grinch wanted his guys to see the full play.
“We felt like it just needs to be more commonplace at the end of a play as a defender, that you’re not on two feet,” Grinch said. “That’s a small thing, but it all comes down to the small things.”
Grinch also preached to his players having an expectation to make a play on every single snap. There were times last season when players simply weren’t in the right gaps. And there were times where players were there, but didn’t fill it well enough and allowed runners to escape through.
“We’ve defined it as expectation as much as anything,” Grinch said. “If you don’t expect yourself to be at the point of attack or expect the ball to be in your gap, there’s not a magic coaching point that is going to get you in that position. We can tell you where it is. But you’ve got to expect to make the play when you get there…Football requires tackles. Let’s not be surprised by that.
“If you don’t expect to make a play, the answer is to get you off the field.”
