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Big 12 Media Days: Lincoln Riley Expects More Defensive Growth in 2021

Ahead of Alex Grinch's third year in charge of the OU defense, Lincoln Riley expects even more growth on the field.

ARLINGTON, TX — Alex Grinch has completely transformed the Oklahoma defense.

In just two years, he’s taken one of the worst units statistically in school history and turned them into one of the top defenses in College Football.

Ahead of Grinch’s third year in Norman, Lincoln Riley expects the defense to continue to take steps forward.

“The progress has been great,” Riley said during his Big 12 Media Days press conference. “Our plan (this year) is to take another big step.”

The defensive growth doesn’t come as a major shock to Riley, who envisioned this kind of success when he was searching to fill the vacant defensive coordinator position ahead of the 2019 season.

“The expectations were very high to begin with,” he said. “Oklahoma is a place where when we began our search for a defensive coordinator, it’s a place you feel like you can go out and have a chance to hire just about anybody in the country.

“Alex quickly separated himself for us in that process because of what we believe he could be and our visions were so much in line it was almost scary for not really knowing each other that well prior to (the hire).”

Riley's faith has been rewarded, as the Sooners leapt to 29th in total defense last year.

A lot of the progress starts in the trenches, Riley said.

“I really point to the defensive line really becoming a strength of this team and one of the best defensive lines in college football,” Riley said. “That really stands out to me.”

In 2020, the Sooners finished third in the entire country in sacks, bringing down the opposing quarterback 39 times. OU only trailed Pittsburg (46.0) and Clemson (46.0).

The progress has been gradual, but results translating from the practice field to the big moments on Saturdays have helped rebuild the confidence on the defensive side of the ball, Riley said.

“You felt constant improvement from Day 1 and we made some big big plays in big games, especially to close out games over the last few years,” he said. “I think those in particular do something for the psyche and confidence of individual players on that side of the ball that are hard to duplicate.”

Success on the field has led to more wins on the recruiting trail as well, as Riley said the look of the team is night and day under Grinch.

“We’ve been able to recruit at a higher and higher level, especially on the defensive side of the ball,” Riley said. “We look different even just walking into a team meeting room than we did on that side of the ball a few years ago. It just looks different in a positive way.

“Still a lot of work to be done. Extremely high expectations for our defense this season.”