USC Football: Lincoln Riley Pushes Back Against Media Narrative On Trojans Defense

Whatever helps him sleep at night I guess...

The biggest storyline surrounding the USC Trojans lately has been about their defensive issues. They have started to rear their ugly heads again, which has become a real problem for this team.

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The Trojans have now had three shaky performances in a row, and their defense seems to be the common denominator in each game,

It seems that USC head coach Lincoln Riley has heard enough about the struggles of the Trojans' defense. He offered his thoughts on how the narrative around the team has been.

“A lot of people in the media had their mind made up that the first second there was any adversity this year, it was like, ‘Oh my God, they should have done this, and they should have made this change,’ and blah blah blah. And it’s not true,” Riley said in a 2-minute 12-second soliloquy after practice. “Like, listen — you’re going to go through the whole year, you’re going to have a tough game. You’re going to have a tough quarter. Do you respond?”



Per Lincoln Riley via The LA Times

While I respect Riley for standing up for his guys, the reality is that this has become a common practice with his teams. They score a lot of points, and the defense can't stop anyone.

It's not a recipe for success in winning National Championships, and it's why none of his teams have been able to do so. Riley is a hell of a coach and one of the best in the country, but until he changes his philosophy, even a little bit on defense, nothing will change.

“We’re not hiding from the areas that we’ve got to continue to make improvement, and there certainly are some. But this is a much-improved unit,” Riley said. “There is no question about it. I mean, this is a unit that, I think, when you talk about the top-end potential, has a chance to really grow and get better fast given some of the youth, some of the new people, some of the quality depth that we have..."

Per Lincoln Riley via The LA Times

Riley wants to win, that is clear, and he has the players to do it. At least offensively. But if the Trojans don't start investing in defense as well, it will be another wasted opportunity for this program.

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