What Lincoln Riley said after USC football's fourth spring practice of 2023

Riley addressed the media following a rainy practice

LOS ANGELES — USC football coach Lincoln Riley spoke with reporters for the second time this spring on Tuesday. He addressed practicing in the rain, how USC will approach the transfer portal during the May window and much more.

Here's some of what Riley had to say. Watch his full press conference below. 

On the bad weather:

"You've got to take advantage of it when you've got the best weather in college football. You don't get many of these days...You don't get to practice in the elements much. The guys know me. I'm always excited when it's going to be windy or rainy."

On how defensive coordinator Alex Grinch has changed his mindset from last season to this season:

"I think as a whole, we're adapting. Especially defensively, there are a lot of different faces out there. So I think on one hand, you've got some skillsets of guys you've seen, which are our returners and you've got a lot of new players that are exciting and we feel are going to make a really strong impact. So we're trying to do what we can to mold those two together and create the type of defense that we feel like we can have."

On USC's play on defense so far this spring:

"I've been very pleased with the progress defensively this offseason. I see our guys really bonding together. I think they really sense after going through some of what we've put them through in the offseason, it has a chance to be a really good group and has a chance to be a really strong part of this football team. A lot times adversity or challenges like that can really pull people together in ways that sometimes success has a hard time of doing so I think the coaches have done a really nice job. We've made some adjustments on the roster. We've got a great plan I think we've executed well up until this point and the practices to this point have been completely back and forth, probably overall won a little bit more by the defense."