SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Two years ago, the day after he decided to fire Alex Grinch from his position USCdefense coordinator, Lincoln Riley made a promise to those who are concerned about the future of the Trojan defense.
“I have complete faith and conviction. We will play great defense here,” the coach said in November 2023. “It's going to happen. There's no reason in the world why it can't happen.”
Two years later, another defensive coordinator left USC. The day after the Grinch was replaced D'Anton LynnRetained for the same job at Penn State, Riley stood in front of reporters, once again assuring everyone that soon enough USC would be great on that side of the ball.
“The arrow,” he said Tuesday, “is pointing straight up.”
“The opportunity for us to hire, continue to make us better and go from a very good defense to a role big protection is the goal.”
However, patience is running thin regarding this promise, especially since the season ended less than an hour ago. USC blew a 10-point lead in the final five minutes against Texas Christian on Tuesday, a team playing without its star quarterback, before missing four tackles on a third-and-20 touchdown in overtime. Catastrophic Alamo Bowl loss will serve as a particularly sobering reminder that while USC has made progress under Lynn's leadership, it is still a long way from heeding Riley's guarantees.
And now the defense will have to start over, with a new direction, a new scheme and a new coordinator, who will be Riley's third hire in five seasons at USC.
Despite it all, Riley was optimistic when asked about the squad's future Tuesday night. He said he felt “fantastic” about where USC’s defense was going.
“We have the personnel,” Riley said of being a great defensive unit. “We're on an upswing. And, you know, there's going to be a lot of interest in this job. I mean, it's going to be an extremely, extremely desirable job, and I can already tell by the nature of how my phone has been the last couple of days.”
Several potential candidates with deep experience as well as close ties to USC athletics are expected to be available.
Former Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski, who worked in Washington under current USC athletic director Jennifer Cohen, was fired by the Longhorns earlier this month. Meanwhile, Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden has been working closely with USC general manager Chad Bowden at Notre Dame and may be looking for a job as early as next week.
Both coached college defenses that ranked top four in the country in points allowed during the 2024 season.
USC seemed to be on a similar trajectory after Lynn's freshman year. The Trojans scored 10 fewer points per game, moving from 121st in scoring defense under Grinch to 56th in his first season at USC. They have become stingier in third place – from 106th nationally to 21st – and in the red zone – from 119th to 69th. Lynn was even named a candidate for the Broyles Award, given to the nation's top assistant.
In some respects, USC's defense continued to take steps forward in Year 2 under Lynn. He gave up fewer points and fewer yards per game. The pass rush improved, adding 10 sacks to his sack total for the 2025 season.
But this season's defense has proven less tested – and more error-prone. The secondary struggled with stretch marks. The thin group of midfielders were often beaten. The defensive interior was stranded for most of the season, and the Trojans were stomped to the ground in each of their three regular-season losses.
Last month, when asked about the group's inconsistency, Lynn said USC's youth had caused him to “slow down a lot” on defense. After USC's loss to Oregon, he did wonder if he should have trimmed the defense even further this season.
“It's different when you're teaching an 18-year-old than when you're teaching a guy who's been to two or three schools and played a lot of college ball,” Lynn said.
Still, Lynn leaves USC in a better place than when he arrived. The nation's first recruiting class lands on campus next week, and a slew of high-profile reinforcements are on the way. Talented rookies such as defensive linemen Jakeem Stewart and Floyd Bucar and cornerback Alex Graham are rising stars who should be ready to step into important roles.
But USC will have to replace three starters in the secondary, including Kamari Ramsey, its best linebacker. [Eric Gentry] and his top stopper on the defensive line [Anthony Lucas]. Whoever takes over as coordinator is expected to immediately take a significant step forward despite one of the toughest schedules in the country in what should be a make-or-break season for the program.
Then there's the issue of Riley's job security, which would make any available top coordinator queasy.
However, as far as coaching is concerned, the path to finding a great coordinator and building a great defense isn't too far off from what USC currently has.
“I definitely don’t want to hit the reset button,” Riley said. “I'm excited about this process and I think it's going to make us better, I know it will. So we'll wake up tomorrow morning and get to work.”
