USC Football: To Save Trojans' Season, Insider Opines Lincoln Riley Must Fire This Coach
The USC Trojans pulled out a last-minute win over the Cal Golden Bears by a score of 50-49 this past weekend, and in all honesty, the game shouldn’t have been that close. Cal did whatever they wanted against the Trojans defense, proving once again the biggest issue with this team.
Head coach Lincoln Riley has stayed loyal to defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, despite all of the issues. This has been taken poorly by fans and media alike, and after showing poor outings, things are getting even warmer for the program.
“Riley should understand that not everybody can be as loyal as him. USC fans who desperately want to cheer for an elite team again are not going to show the same patience with Riley as he has defensive coordinator Alex Grinch. Riley’s loyalty to Grinch last offseason, more than anything else, is what has dimmed the shine from USC’s one-time savior.”
All of the issues that the Trojans are facing are because of Riley. Grinch does run the defense, but Riley makes the call whether to fire him or not, and at this point, he knows what this is with his coordinator.
He has refused to acknowledge the problems that persist within the Trojans program, and that starts with the struggles that the defense has shown once again. It plagued them last season, and it is plaguing them once again this year as well.
“This is Grinch’s fifth season as Riley’s defensive coordinator. Everyone knows there won’t be a sixth, but the fact that USC is having to endure the fifth was a major miscalculation by Riley.”
The issues on defense have caused games to be much closer than they should have been this year, leading to some close calls. But how much would firing Grinch improve this team in the middle of the season? We won’t know unless Riley decides to pull the trigger, and it could end up costing the Trojans at least another game.
“A year ago, Riley had built up the goodwill to keep Grinch by turning the Trojans from 4-8 to 11-3. But in doing so, he gambled with USC fans’ trust and, with three games left in his second season, is on the verge of losing it.”
The Trojans have some big decisions to make coming up but don’t expect anything to happen during the year. If anything, Grinch will be let go in the offseason, or at least he better be otherwise, things could get ugly for Riley and the Trojans.
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