It was welcomed news for some that Lincoln Riley pledged to take a more active role with the defense.
“My role within the defense will certainly change this offseason,” Riley said.
“The reality is for us to make the jump defensively we got to make, the roster’s got to get better, the development’s got to get better, I have to be better at my role for it. I still have an important role there.”
There’s a legitimate question to be asked here: Does Riley being involved more make the defense better?
We’re talking about a guy who has an offense-only mindset with no defensive mentors. To use a cliche, a leopard never changes its spots. The defense will have better players but will Riley make them better?
I’d probably feel better if Riley went out and hired some veteran guy to be a defensive consultant to offer advice to Alex Grinch. Maybe he could give someone the title of assistant head coach/defense if being a consultant is too small a title.
For example, last week Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Derek Mason resigned to “pursue other opportunities in college football.” Maybe someone like that would be willing to take a role at USC.
It wouldn’t hurt to bolster the staff.
InsideUSC with Scott Wolf 
hi john,sense u iz the smartissed pirsun i now and a leopard aint nevr gunna stop spoting,dos that meen u awl waze gunna complane abowt evry thing like u iz stil playin womyn sporets,thanx a lot
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RILEY SOUNDS SO DEFENSIVE !!
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Hi George!
Coach Riley “sounds” as though he’d like to contribute more on the defensive side—-but other than hiring a respected consultant how’s he gonna help Grinch out? Defense isn’t exactly the specialty he’s known for is it?
#ScottIs100%RightOnThisOne
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hi john,sense u iz the smartissed pirsun i now want some of ur peenus in my mouth, I bet I be smart after I swallow ur cum. Wut u think? Smh
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Lots of buyer’s remorse up at Nike U.
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The problem with Oregon is Oregon. Once they drag you in what is there to do? Winning is not everything. Outside of a few big cities, they have what? I remember a high school teacher saying Oregon has a vast desert, since I didn’t want to visit I have never bothered to look. But the high minded regulations of every day citizens has got to be too much for today’s teen turned football stars.
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Basically,
Oregon is poverty with a view.
Who was that blogger here, who referred to the two cities, ????
Core-Phallus
Eewwww-Gene
Portland cannot be saved. Once a nice town. Now…SHELL IT.
No one under the age of 70 deliberately moves to Oregon unless they are paid well.
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Coach “O” would be perfect at this position. Always liked him.
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Agreed!
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Not even remotely likely. Never happen.
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O’s expiration date was reached awhile ago.
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Coach Orgeron would be perfect except for one teeny weeny problem — he wouldn’t like working with Coach Riley and Coach Riley really, really wouldn’t like working with him….
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Ya sure, just another guy to get blamed. Riley sat down with his defensive staff and had them give him a detailed program on how the defense will get better. It appeared Grinch was more caring about trust and culture than scheme. He and Donte disagreed on things. So Riley has it in writing what the defense is going to do to get better, and that Wolf is how he is going to be involved in the D. It is nuts to think LR doesn’t know defense, he has to to be able to beat them week after week. Sark brought in a caretaker (Patterson) because he is basically covering his insecure ass, Riley is not that insecure.
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Lincoln Riley’s been a head coach for over 5 years, and all of his teams have had lousy defenses. What makes him a defensive guru now? If he had it in him, he probably would have exercised those skills at Oklahoma. So unless you see new faces in place as far as the coaching staff goes, don’t expect things to be different. Riley’s high school recruiting doesn’t even reflect changes are coming, it indicates that he’s going to continue to win games from the outside in
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How can you have a successful offense if you don’t understand defenses? Blind luck?
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Knowing how to design a perfect offense involves knowing how to exploit defenses, yes. But it’s NOT the same as understanding how to design a perfect defense. The sports I enjoy watching most [outside of football] are boxing and tennis —- and I’m always seeing athletes who understand how to pour it on offensively who aren’t great on defense.
Scott is right: If the brilliant Offensive Coach, Lincoln Riley, understood defense we probably would have seen some evidence of it by now. He could use some help….
#IfHeWantsANationalChampionship
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Kirk finally makes sense….
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Sark hired a consultant for their D coordinator. It worked out well. Makes sense especially if your specialty is NOT defense. Football is not rocket science.
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Scooter,
Until SC has the dominant defense like they did in the 70’s, I will always be suspect about them since it has not been good since Helton first took over. Too many years of medicority on that side of the ball.
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To his credit, Lane Kiffin understood this. Unfortunately he brought in the WRONG defensive genius —his Dad.
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But how can defense be plugged into a team in the high flying PAC-12, where the refs steer the games so that it is a shoot out until the very end, to keep TV ratings? And the tackling rules have changed. If you tackle you get thrown out of a game and maybe the next game too. Players are now taught how to bump, not tackle. And a souped-up offense leads to giving the opponent greater time on the field. The defensive issues are systemic not necessarily particular to any one coach. However, I did check the scores for Wisconsin football which I believe has a defensive minded coach. And, indeed, they held many teams to low scores. But that is in the Big-10. In another year that is where SC will be.
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It’s a question of degree, Wayne. We plainly need to get better on defense —- even if college football is currently geared toward offense.
#Let’sAimForAllowing490YardsInsteadOf500ForStarters
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I hear Wilcox might be available starting next year.
Please God.
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Ed Orgeron comes to mind, and he loves LA, but would hiring him interfere with his due compensation from LSU?
I hope Riley is leaning towards holding tacklers responsible for their mistakes. He really doesn’t need to put on two hats to be head coach. He just has to show that he’s not afraid to be the guy who can hold players accountable.
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Oh, he holds them accountable, Ghost! He said he was “disappointed” in the 204 missed tackles in the Cotton Bowl…
#HowMuchMore”Accountability”CanAGuyAskFor?!
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All Riley is saying is he’s going to hold coaches and players more accountable before, during and after games on defense. The lack of communication and effort was unacceptable on defense. His offense didn’t run like that so he wants to see the defense run more efficiently.
Rivals are reporting that Pleasant is hanging out with the USC recruits at the Polynesian Bowl.
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USC is going to USC when it comes to doing the obvious, and that’s Quarter back and offense…
Running game? Defense? Anything else? What’s that?
The number 55 tradition needs to marry Riley’s genius on offense moving into a new era and dynasty period.
Alex Grinch is a feeder fish on the belly of of a shark, USC WILL need someone like I suggested week 3 a Manny Diaz at the helm to compensate Riley, and money shall no be an issue given the nightmare with Helton eww ..
USC dumps Alex Grinch and upgrades and gets the top 5 defensive coordinator in the country, or just be mediocre at best. Caleb Williams is by default let’s not get it twisted, as a life long USC I’m surprised to see color at the position most coveted for white pocket passing types,
Yes I know Rodney Peete, Token… Lol
It’s a new era, you go big or not at all, last year potential, but next year can be bust because the fat heads up at USC…
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What I see is this- the top defensive teams in the country always get the top defensive recruits- they want the exposure to the best coaching to get to the next level. Similar to the reputation that USC has for highlighting WR talent. Until gets that gloss as a defensive destination, at best we will only get a few of the best defensive incoming freshman. Also, we cant continue to rely on the transfer portal to fill in the gaps created by weak recruiting- this has to be corrected. And if Grinch doesn’t have street cred to get that done- then he needs to be replaced.
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Getting better players will help but I just don’t think that the defense will ever take a big improvement leap as long as Grinch is running it. They should have gotten rid of him this year but I do think they will get rid of him in the near future but it will be too late to save 2023(Calebs final year). They had a chance to win the NC next year. Will they even make the playoffs next year? I don’t think so but we will see.
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