Alex Grinch has saved the Oklahoma defense, but will he be here long enough to enjoy the fruits of his labor?

As OU's defensive rankings have surged, players applaud Grinch's unending grind, his relentless pursuit of growth and his ability to tap into what motivates them

Alex Grinch and Brendan Radley-Hiles :: Joshua R. Gateley / OU Athletics

How long before Lincoln Riley’s coaching tree sprouts another branch?

It might not be long at all.

Shane Beamer took the head coaching job at South Carolina this week, and the way the OU defense has performed this season, Alex Grinch could be next — sooner than later.

For the head coach, it’s an inconvenient price of greatness: hiring talented coordinators who get their teams to perform at elite levels means those coordinators are frequently targeted to become head coaches. They leave and need to be replaced. It reflects well on a head coach and his program — but over time, it takes a toll.

It became a familiar pattern for Bob Stoops: Mike Leach, Mark Mangino, Mike Stoops, Bo Pelini, Chuch Long, Kevin Sumlin and Kevin Wilson all came through Norman in a nine-year stretch and were hired away (Pelini left to be defensive coordinator at LSU for three seasons before taking over at Nebraska).

Eventually, it gets harder and harder to replace that talent. But Stoops hit a home run when he hired Riley, and Riley did the same when he hired Grinch.

Grinch on Wednesday said aspiring to become a head coach was “a constant thing,” although he also said he’s not obsessed with it in his current job.

“When you’re a position coach,” Grinch said, “there’s always that — whatever you want to call it — twinkle, maybe, or that thought process of, ‘Man, I’d like to have the opportunity to run my own defense. To be the guy at the end of the table.’

Alex Grinch and Pat Fields :: Ty Russell / OU Athletics

“Obviously, you do that, you don’t think maybe of all the stresses that come with it, either.”

The same ambition exists for most coordinators.

“It’s natural for a lot of coaches to kind of think about those things,” Grinch said. “More offseason conversations, in terms of the thought process that kind of goes into that. It’s something that you aspire to be. Obviously, opportunities have to present themselves.”

Grinch got questions last year about his head coaching aspirations after Riley said, “There’s no doubt in my mind that if that is what he wants to do, then he’d be a very good head coach.”

Grinch said last year being a head coach is something he “always thought about,” but “at this stage, I’m just thrilled to be at Oklahoma, to run a defense, to run a room. To have a title next to your name or a seat at the head of the table doesn’t really interest me.”

That may have been more cursory talk in 2019 as Grinch merely had to heal a defense that he said had “scars” from the previous few years. Just not finishing last in the NCAA pass defense rankings was an early motivator for last year’s team. Being able to hold their own most of last year was a good accomplishment.

That’s not the case this year.

This year, as Grinch got a salary jump from $1.4 million to $1.8 million, the Oklahoma defense has more than turned the corner. It seems that in Year 2 under Grinch, the Sooner defense has arrived.

In 2018, OU’s defense ranked 114th in the nation in total yards allowed. Last year that skyrocketed to 38th. This year? 14th.

Two years ago, the Sooners were 101st nationally in points allowed. Last year, 64th. This year, going into Saturday’s regular-season finale at West Virginia, OU is 30th.

#Sooners Defense Rankings

Total Def
2018: 114
2019: 38
2020: 14

Scoring Def
2018: 101
2019: 64
2020: 30

3rd Down Def
2018: 119
2019: 17
2020: 5

RedZone TD Def
2018: 130 (Dead Last)
2019: 99
2020: 53

Turnovers
2018: 121
2019: 121
2020: 38

Sacks
2018: 49
2019: 21
2020: 4

— Colby Daniels (@Colby_Daniels) December 7, 2020

No matter the metric — third downs, takeaways, sacks, tackles for loss, red zone touchdowns, etc. — Oklahoma is playing upper-level to elite defense each week.

And that means other schools are going to call Riley more and more to inquire about Grinch.

On Wednesday, players described the elements Grinch brought that have turned the OU defense from a laughingstock to a powerhouse.

“It’s a mindset here at OU to be elite. That’s the standard here,” said linebacker Brian Asamoah. “There are no ifs, ands or buts, no shortcuts to anything you’re doing. Either you’re doing it 100 percent or not doing it at all. That’s something coach Grinch has instilled here. If you’re not going to do it to the best of your ability, then he doesn’t want you doing it.”

“I can tell,” said defensive back Tre Norwood, “guys are dialing in and buying in so we can play to that bottom line: straining to the ball, playing together, being physical. And then like I’ve said, the emphasis on takeaways. Throughout the years, that mentality is just gonna continue to grow, and I feel like that’s the main thing that he’s changed here. It’s just a whole culture change that he’s brought with the mentality, the mindset of how we approach each and every day, each and every snap — from play one to the last play of the game.”

“I’d probably say the aggressiveness that we attack every day with,” said defensive end Ronnie Perkins. “Every day before we have position meetings or anything, every day, coach Grinch — every single day — he’ll come up to the front of the defense and me and … he’ll give us a big prep talk early. And this’ll go on every day. So like, he’s teaching us to attack every day the same way, no matter what day it is. If it’s Tuesday or Wednesday, if it’s a walk-through, no matter what. We’re preparing ourselves to go perform on Saturdays. I could say we bought into his mindset — the defense. We bought into his mindset no matter what day it is. Attack the day as if it’s gameday.”

Grinch, 40, looks like a yeller, a screamer who wants things done his way or it’s the highway. His voice is always hoarse, his mannerisms are always animated.

But he’s much more insightful, more introspective than he comes off. He studies success in other sports and relates it to football. He reads. He uses psychology to tap into his players’ inner strengths. He finds and implements motivational sayings every day.

Alex Grinch / OU Athletics

And then when it comes to football, he’s the ultimate technician, but without letting it overwhelm his players’ ability to think and process. Grinch wants it done right — but, he also knows that simpler is better. His ability to streamline the defense and simplify the game plan so the players can process what’s happening on the field without having to think has been the final piece of the Sooners’ success.

They were good players in high school. Lots of college programs wanted them. There’s no reason they can’t be good players in college. Grinch has unlocked their ability through simplicity and communication.

“That ties into allowing guys to buy in more to the bottom line,” Norwood said. “We’re gonna have our few calls and, like he said … the same defense that we have in camp, we’ll have the same defense at the end of the season.

“I think that helps guys a lot, because you can continue to perfect and get better at your technique on each of those calls. You know the calls are not gonna change. And that allows you to play faster, to play hard, to play physical, to make those plays when opportunities come to you.”

Perkins said Grinch’s system is defensive line-friendly. In one recruiting cycle, Grinch helped land two difference-making junior college transfers in Perrion Winfrey and Joshua Ellison. Meanwhile, two guys who played for Mike Stoops and Ruffin McNeill in 2018 — Perkins and Isaiah Thomas — have grown into All-Big 12 talent this season, and others are playing better and better.

Players like Norwood, Asamoah, Jordan Kelley, Nik Bonitto, DaShaun White, Tre Brown, Delarrin Turner-Yell, Pat Fields and Brendan Radley-Hiles have grown and blossomed since 2018 in their two years under Grinch.

“I appreciate coach Grinch for everything he has brought to this program,” Asamoah said. “He’s instilled a hunger in us to improve every day. And that goes with the bottom line. That’s like our Bible to us, the bottom line. Number one bullet point is the hunger to continuously improve. That’s one thing we strive to do. That’s one thing coach Grinch has done here for this program, having the want-to to improve.”

Grinch applauded Beamer for putting himself in position to be a head coach after 21 years in the coaching industry.

“Ultimately, that’s what you want to be,” Grinch said. “You want to be the best coach you can possibly be. I aspire to be the best coach in America. Believe me, people let me know all the time that I’m not.

“If you do that, you may have some opportunities. They’ve got to be the right opportunity. The nice thing about being at Oklahoma, you don’t have to get the classifieds out and look for opportunities. I feel very, very fortunate to be here.”

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