USC Football: Wisconsin Coach Tries to Justify Hiring Failed Ex-Trojans DC Alex Grinch

Grinch led one of the worst defenses in college football last season.

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Former USC football defensive coordinator Alex Grinch was hired by Wisconsin to be the school's co-defensive coordinator last February, securing the position despite a tumultuous two-year run coaching USC's defense.

With the Trojans, Grinch ran a unit that ranked 116th in yards allowed per game, and 118th in points allowed per game. The Trojans could seemingly not stop anyone all year, giving up over 30 points to eight of their final nine opponents in 2023.

The team's defensive effort was so poor that Grinch was fired on Nov. 5, before the season ended and after a 52-42 loss to Washington.

Despite this run, Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell likes that Grinch has been through obstacles. In fact, this was one of the traits that made Grinch an appealing candidate to him.

"I want guys that have had a lot of tough situations," Fickell said at Big Ten Media Day. "Guys that have gone through that and humbled themselves and you can recognize that, I think they are a hell of a lot better in the long run."

Asked Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell about hiring former USC DC Alex Grinch (now the safeties coach/co-DC at Wisconsin) after a tough year at USC.

Talked about Grinch’s humility in what he went through without pointing fingers: pic.twitter.com/f3QW3CEpw4

— Luca Evans (@bylucaevans) July 23, 2024

"We had some mutual connections and knew that our ideas and things we do aligned in a lot of ways," Fickell added. "To see the humility that he had and all the things he went through, never complained, never made an excuse, never pointed a finger. He's a very smart football coach that is a hell of a lot better now even then he was then because of those experiences."

While facing obstacles is an important character trait for many jobs and positions in life, so is overcoming challenges. Grinch proved unable to overcome those struggles at USC, as the defense continued to give up points and yards throughout the season. He does now have the opportunity to overcome those previous issues with Wisconsin, and try to lead their defense in a better direction.

In the meantime, USC has moved on. They hired former UCLA defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn to take over the defense alongside former Los Angeles Rams defensive line coach Eric Henderson. Lynn previously ran one of the best defenses in college football, as the Bruins ranked 10th in yards allowed per game and 14th in points allowed per game in 2023.

Meanwhile, Henderson helped coach one of the greatest defensive players of all time in Aaron Donald. The two will look to transform USC into a strong defensive team.

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