Fickell defends decision to hire Grinch after his defenses struggled at USC, Oklahoma

Fickell was impressed with how Grinch handled his situationat USC.

Apr 23, 2022; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans defensive coordinator Alex Grinch during the spring game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin made changes on its defensive staff this offseason and that included bringing in Alex Grinch as the new safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator. He was fired from his full-time DC role at USC, so the move came with its fair share of questions.

Grinch had been the defensive coordinator at Oklahoma and USC under Lincoln Riley since 2019. and those defenses notoriously struggled. The USC defense allowed 34.4 points per game last season, which ranked 121st in the country.

Earlier this week at Big Ten Media Days, Badgers head coach Luke Fickell was asked about the decision to bring Grinch in to work alongside co-defensive coordinator Mike Tressel.

"I want guys that have had a lot of tough situations," Fickell answered. "Define what you want to say as failing, I don't know, you weren't as good as you want to be as a player in my mind, but it doesn't matter if you were released or whatever. Guys that have gone through that and can humble themselves and recognize that, I think they're a hell of a lot better in the long run."

In Grinch's five seasons as a defensive coordinator under Riley, his teams have allowed an average of 27.7 points per game. They've never ranked inside of the top-25 scoring defenses in the country. Before joining Riley's staff he did work as the co-DC at Ohio State in 2018, but did not ever work with Fickell.

"We had some mutual connections and knew that our ideas and things we do align in a lot of different ways," Fickell said. "Once I got to know him and met him a little bit, to just see and feel the humility 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's a hell of a lot better now than he was then because of those experiences"

Last season, Wisconsin's defense allowed 20.2 points per game, ranking 21st in the nation. With Grinch and Tressel collaborating in 2024, we could see a big change on that side of the ball for the Badgers.