USC Protection Coordinator Alex Grinch will return subsequent season, in response to Trojans coach Lincoln Riley. .
“I went by way of it sufficient with that man to search out out,” Riley informed reporters.
“I do know what he did. I simply did. I do know what’s making ready to occur in protection.”
USC protection underneath Alex Grinch
What occurred was the protection was a combined bag for the USC in its first yr underneath Riley and Grinch.
The workforce compelled 28 modifications within the yr main the faculty soccer with a pay distinction of 1.5 per sport, a significant enhance to the unit that helped the workforce transition from the 4-8 marketing campaign. Its final yr, however the protection additionally ranks. No. 8 in Pac-12 towards each operating and crossing and allowed a median of greater than 400 yards per sport.
The unit appeared to maintain lots of the USC convention video games nearer than it ought to have been, and it is expensive to lose two late: to Utah within the Pac-12 Championship with the precise Faculty Soccer Playoff at On the road and to Tulane in a cotton bowl.
The USC allowed Tulane to attain 46 factors, an enormous last-minute defeat for the Trojans, fueling rumors that Grinch might be on the stick.
In whole, the USC protection has allowed no less than 45 factors in three of its final 4 video games.
However Riley recalled his confidence within the Grinch, who had been with him since 2019 in Oklahoma and adopted him to USC.
He’ll now get another shot to enhance the protection, which, whereas watching the USC’s productive offensive led by defender Heisman Trophy Caleb Williams, might assist carry the present into the highlight. First faculty soccer earlier than Williams left.
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