5 Alex Grinch replacements USC football needs to finally fix the defense
By John Buhler
All eyes are on USC now that Alex Grinch is no longer the Trojans' defensive coordinator. Caleb Williams may have bawled his eyes out in yet another shootout defeat, but he has three more games left in a Trojans uniform before he inevitably turns pro. As far as USC head coach Lincoln Riley is concerned, he must nail this defensive coordinator hire or else. Otherwise, he will be run out of town.
For the first time in weeks, USC is a serious football team. The Trojans were not a serious football team until they told Grinch to take a hike, possibly to the Mount Crumpit just outside of Whoville. The same principle applied to Brian Ferentz "coordinating" the Iowa Hawkeyes offense for his dad's team. Interim Iowa athletic director Beth Goetz did was Gary Barta never could and ended the nepotism.
Grinch may not be related to Riley, but he treated him like a brother, one who would steal his clothes and sell them on eBay to fund his rock and roll lifestyle. Fate would have it, there is a new change at the helm of USC athletics with Jennifer Cohen coming over from Washington. No more remnants of the Mike Bohn nonsense remain. You don't even know! All I know is that ding dong the Grinch is gone!
As far as replacing Grinch long-term is concerned, maybe one of these five coaches could work?
Alex Grinch fired: 5 replacements for USC Trojans defensive coordinator
5. Jon Heacock could get out of the Matt Campbell shadows at Iowa State
He may be getting up there in age, but Jon Heacock could conceivably leave Iowa State this offseason if he wants to get out of Matt Campbell's shadow of sorts. Heacock is in his early-to-mid-60s, but the man knows defense. Not only that, but he was Jim Tressel's replacement at Youngstown State, having led the Penguins throughout the 2000s. Of course, he is a defensive coordinator now...
What I think Heacock could do for the USC defense is give the Trojans some semblance of competitiveness on that side of the ball. While he has spent his entire coaching career in the Midwest, going to California could be a decent move to semi-retirement. After all, USC has been mailing it in on that side of the ball for the better part of a decade now, so that is nothing new here.
As far as injecting competitiveness into the USC defense, look at how he has helped Campbell not only make the successful leap from Toledo to Iowa State, but has had the Cyclones playing mostly solid football without having the best athletes. Iowa State popped in 2020 due to its offensive personnel, but the defense has been this program's calling card ever since Campbell first arrived.
This is a shot-in-the-dark sort of hire, but it is one the college football world would surely respect.