USC's Defensive Coordinator Lauds New Look Defense, Urges Consistency
The 2022 defense under first-year Trojans defensive coordinator Alex Grinch wasn't ideal.
USC's defnese was atrocious, to say the least, and was the reason why their season ended with two losses in a row. It was beyond disgraceful; the fans and experts knew it, and so did the coaching staff. Changes needed to be made, so head coach Lincoln Riley, Grinch, and the coaching staff went to work to upgrade the defense.
They certainly did that on paper, adding big bodies to improve their overall defense, and it very well should.
Grinch is confident the defense will be better in 2023 and went so far as to say they are already better, calling the defense, 'bigger, faster, and stronger.'
“One of the things is — are we a bigger, faster, stronger football team as we sit here today than we did a year ago? The answer, not in my opinion — it’s fact — is, we are,” Grinch said. “Now, we gotta make sure we play more physical, we play faster and all of those things. Then also with that is make sure we put the guys in the best situations to be successful."
That's a bold statement, but that's what's expected from the school and its fans. The 2022 defense was terrible, and things should look promising with the additions of DL Anthony Lucas, DL Kyon Barrs, DL Jack Sullivan, LB Mason Cobb, and DL Bear Alexander.
USC's offense will be fine; we know that the defense needs to step up and do its thing to help the offense.
IF, and this is a big one, if the USC defense can be slightly better, just barely, while the offense looks excellent or even better than last season, this team can be competing for a national championship this season.
That is a big 'If.' We'll see if Grinch and his defense can make it happen; it will all fall on their shoulders this season.
