Alex Grinch says he hasn’t had to coach effort as much this offseason
Every USC fan wants this 2023 defense to be good. If this defense passes the test, the Trojans should be in the College Football Playoff. At the very least, they will win the Pac-12 championship. Fans are looking for signs of optimism on the Trojans’ defense. They’re looking for hints of improvement and small clues that point to evolution and growth.
We at Trojans Wire have a simple view of the USC defense: We want to see it on the field. We’re not going to get too far ahead of ourselves in assuming this defense will be better. Yes, it looks better on paper. Yes, there is more depth on paper. Yes, the coaches and players are saying the right things. Ultimately, though, the convincing will be done on the field, not at press conferences or media availabilities. Keep that in mind before getting too excited about the USC defense.
However, if you are looking for those little clues and hints, they continue to point to a more optimistic view of the 2023 USC defense. Consider this quote from Alex Grinch as told to 247Sports:
““Big picture-wise in terms of doing more things or doing different things collectively for the guys one of the things we’d give a lot of credit, and I don’t know if we’ve talked about this this spring, but these guys have let us coach ‘em,” Grinch said. “A lot less managing effort and managing spring ball No. 1 meeting (through) practice 14 in fall camp. I mean really being able to get in some situational stuff. That’s at every position. So if I had to circle one real positive, there have been several, but one real positive of fall camp is this is a group that allowed us to coach which has been good.”
It certainly stands to reason that if the coaches aren’t spending as much time having to manage the effort level of players, it means the players are more self-motivated and are in a place where they just want to learn how to use better technique and play better situational football. That is a sign of growth within a program.
As always, though: Let’s see it on the field. USC’s defense won’t improve because the coaches are confident. USC’s defense will improve if the players and coaches do their jobs well. That remains to be seen.
