Lincoln Riley Loses USC Staff Member to Old Rival

USC Trojans director of football strategy/offensive assistant Joe D’Orazio is being hired by the Utah Utes to be their next general manager.

Dec 30, 2025; San Antonio, TX, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley watches in the first half against the TCU Horned Frogs during the Alamo Bowl at Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Former USC Trojans director of football strategy/offensive assistant Joe D’Orazio is being hired by the Utah Utes as their new general manager according to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports. D’Orazio was a graduate assistant for Utah back in 2012. 

D’Orazio spent one season at USC in 2025. Prior to that he was a quality control coach for the Baylor Bears in 2024 and a director of learning and team development for Columbia from 2018-2023. Before Columbia, D’Orazio also spent time in the NFL as a quality control coach and assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs. 

Utah Hires Joe D’Orazio

Dec 31, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Utah Utes interim coach Morgan Scalley watches from the sidelines against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the second half during the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Utah Utes have a new general manager in Joe D’Orazio who will take over for former Utes general manager Robert Blechen. This is another big change for the Utah football program following long-time Utes coach Kyle Whittingham’s move from Utah to the Michigan Wolverines. 

Utah is hiring USC director of football strategy/offensive assistant Joe D’Orazio as its new general manager, sources tell @CBSSports.

Before USC, worked at Baylor, as offensive coordinator at Columbia and also in the NFL with the Eagles and Chiefs. pic.twitter.com/mbtNxRcIUJ

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) January 26, 2026

Whittingham had been on the Utah coaching staff since 1994 as a defensive line coach and was the head coach since 2005. In his two decade run as coach, the Utes had a record of 177-88. Utah won the Pac-12 conference in 2021 and 2022 before making the move to the Big 12 conference in 2024. Utah is coming off an 11-2 2025 season in what ended up being Whittingham’s final season. 

Michigan football head coach Kyle Whittingham speaks as he is being introduced on the floor during the first half between Michigan and USC at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Utah promoted defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley to head coach. Scalley has been on the Utah coaching staff since 2007 as a graduate assistant and was the defensive coordinator under Whittingham since 2016. 

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USC’s New-Look Staff

Oct 23, 2021; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; TCU Horned Frogs head coach Gary Patterson reacts during the first half against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Amon G. Carter Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

USC now will look to fill the role left vacant by D’Orazio. Trojans coach Lincoln Riley’s staff as a whole will look notably different next season. The most glaring change will come at defensive coordinator.

USC’s defensive coordinator in 2024 and 2025, D’Anton Lynn, accepted the defensive coordinator job with the Penn State Nittany Lions. This didn’t come as a huge surprise as Lynn played for the Nittany Lions from 2008-2011 as a linebacker. 

The Trojans' new defensive coordinator is former TCU Horned Frogs coach Gary Patterson, who was at TCU as coach from 2000-2021. He had an overall record of 181-79, including winning Conference USA once, the Mountain West four times, and Big 12 once. 

Nov 7, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley watches game action against the Northwestern Wildcats during the second half at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

While Patterson hasn’t been a head coach or coordinator since 2021, he was a special assistant to the head coach with the Texas Longhorns in 2022 and a consultant for the Baylor Bears in 2024. 

Patterson will now be back to dialing up defenses, this time under Riley. The two have a history from their TCU-Oklahoma matchups when they were both in the Big 12 from 2017-2021. 

2026 will be Riley’s fifth season with USC as the Trojans look to make it to the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history.