Coaching carousel primer for USC’s defensive coordinator search: what to watch for in the coming weeks
It’s that time again! USC has to find a coach — not a head coach, but a coordinator. It’s a hugely important search and a defining moment for Lincoln Riley. Alex Grinch got fired, which is undeniably good, but this matters only if Riley and athletic director Jennifer Cohen find an elite replacement for Grinch. Jim Leonhard is the guy most USC fans want. He is also our preferred No. 1 choice as well. However, this is where we have to remind you that a school’s top choice might not want to coach at that school. The interest and desire have to be mutual. If not, USC has to pivot to a second choice, and then a third choice, if the next few candidates say no.
USC needs to be ready and able to have rock-star quality in its fourth, fifth and sixth choices. Cohen and Riley need to have a list in which their various options are all good, and they don’t have a weak choice too high on their menu.
Here is our guide to the ins and outs of this USC defensive coordinator search. It’s a lot more than just having a top target. That’s the easy part. The hard part is when the top target says no and the adjustments have to be made on the fly.
If Jim Leonhard says yes, this is very easy for USC … but we don’t expect Leonhard to say yes. We’ll explain that and a lot more below in this coaching carousel primer:
FOLLOW THE BOUNCING BALL (AND COACHES)
Remember how wild the coaching carousel was in 2021? No one saw it coming when Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma for USC, and Brian Kelly left Notre Dame for LSU. Shortly thereafter, Mario Cristobal left Oregon for Miami, enabling Dan Lanning to go to Eugene. It’s a series of moving parts. We don’t know how or when the parts will move. It’s part of the intrigue of a coaching carousel. We’re going to give you a roadmap for the moving parts. We won’t predict what will happen, but we can give you a sense of the national landscape and how it shapes the choices of the candidates USC will search for.
JIM LEONHARD
The industry scuttlebutt says that Jim Leonhard wants a head coaching job, not a coordinator job. If true, USC will have to work really hard to convince Leonhard to come to Los Angeles and work with Lincoln Riley. USC might need to fire strength coach Bennie Wylie, for one thing, if Leonhard is to have any desire to work for USC.
Beyond that, we have to consider the coaching jobs which might open up. That’s part of the carousel and its endless drama.
SYRACUSE
What does Syracuse have to do with any of this, you might ask? This is exactly the thing we’re trying to emphasize. What happens in one place could affect what a coaching candidate chooses to do (or avoid).
Dino Babers is on the hot seat at Syracuse. He has been there several years. The Orange could definitely seek a new voice. If Syracuse fires Babers, would Jim Leonhard or another top USC defensive coordinator candidate take the open job there? It’s precisely the kind of plot twist USC fans have to consider. It’s also the kind of thing Jen Cohen and Lincoln Riley have to be ready for. If Leonhard takes an open job, he’s off the board, and USC will have to pivot to its Plan B.
Do we know if Leonhard would take the Syracuse job? No … but it’s a plot point to keep in mind. That’s what this article is all about — not predictions, but offering you scenarios to consider.
INDIANA
If the Indiana job comes open, would Jim Leonhard want it? We don’t know, but it’s something to consider.
There’s another aspect to the Indiana job which we will mention next:
TOM ALLEN
If Indiana fires Tom Allen, that could send Jim Leonhard to Bloomington as the Hoosiers’ new head coach. It would also mean Tom Allen, who was an excellent defensive coordinator at Indiana before being promoted to head coach, would be on the open market for USC and Lincoln Riley. Allen is our No. 2 preferred choice behind Jim Leonhard. USC fans should hope Indiana fires Allen, so that he gives USC an attractive new candidate.
MISSISSIPPI STATE
Zach Arnett took over for the departed Mike Leach this season at Mississippi State. It hasn’t gone well. Arnett might be cut loose. If he is, he would make a very solid choice for USC — maybe not a No. 1 choice, but certainly a massive upgrade over Alex Grinch.
Trust us: USC could do a lot worse than Zach Arnett.
BAYLOR
Will Baylor fire Dave Aranda? If Baylor does, USC would have an elite candidate for defensive coordinator. We think Baylor will not fire Aranda. He won the Sugar Bowl two seasons ago. As bad as the last two years have been, Baylor probably will stand pat.
Obviously, though, if Aranda is fired, he becomes as good an option as Leonhard. We simply don’t think it will get to that point.
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
USC got Lincoln Riley for a number of reasons, one being that Oklahoma missed the Big 12 Championship Game in 2021. Had OU reached the Big 12 title game that year, USC wouldn’t have been able to line up that move the way it did.
We mention that because there are some attractive defensive coordinator candidates at Big 12 schools such as Kansas State and Iowa State. If one of those schools makes the Big 12 title game, that candidate will be harder for USC to get.
This leads us to another key detail in this whole process:
DECEMBER 4
The transfer portal window opens December 4. Conference championship games are played on December 1 and 2. USC needs a defensive coordinator in place by the end of November, or at least, that would certainly help. The Trojans need to have their defensive coordinator on board so that potential transfer portal applicants will know what kind of defensive coach is working with Lincoln Riley.
If USC does not have its DC position filled by December 4, that could really hurt the Trojans in the portal. They will need elite players to join the new-look defense under a new coordinator. That’s an important part of this transition for the Trojans.
COORDINATORS AND OPEN JOBS
This is where the carousel can spin very wildly. What if a Group of Five head coach leaves his post to take over an open coordinator job? Let’s say a Group of Five head coach replaces Jeff Lebby as offensive coordinator at Oklahoma, or replaces Gerad Parker as Notre Dame offensive coordinator?
One of USC’s defensive coordinator candidates could then take that open Group of Five head coaching job. That’s how quickly all of this can change.
TONY GIBSON, NORTH CAROLINA STATE
Tony Gibson, the excellent defensive coordinator at North Carolina State, might want a head coaching job. If USC wants Gibson, the opening of a Group of Five head coaching position could pose an obstacle to that goal of bringing Gibson aboard. Jen Cohen and Lincoln Riley need to be willing to spring into action if Gibson or another defensive coordinator at another school is enticed by a Group of Five opening or — as we noted above with Jim Leonhard — a Power Five opening such as Syracuse or Indiana, maybe also Mississippi State.
That’s how the coaching carousel works. Be ready to follow the bouncing ball in the coming weeks.
