The relationship between Mike Bohn and Lincoln Riley will be tested if USC defense doesn’t improve

You know the news by now: Alex Grinch has been retained by Lincoln Riley as USC’s defensive coordinator for the 2023 season, in spite of a terrible second half of the 2022 season. That second-half nosedive was punctuated by brutal performances in the Pac-12 Championship Game and the Cotton Bowl in which the Trojans allowed 46 or more points and were physically dominated.

It isn’t easy to be confident in USC’s defense for 2023, but Lincoln Riley has doubled down on his belief and trust in Alex Grinch. Riley has also doubled down on not hiring a special teams coordinator and making significant changes to his coaching staff.

If you ask most USC fans, you’ll get widespread agreement that Alex Grinch is not the best the Trojans can do at defensive coordinator. You’ll get a much more divided reaction on the topic of hiring a special teams coordinator at the expense of releasing a strong recruiter who is currently on the staff of on-field assistant coaches.

Whatever your opinion might be on these matters, let’s ask one question: What is Mike Bohn’s role in all of this? We need to pay attention to how the boss is managing the head coach and the football program.

Let’s examine Bohn’s role and how he is handling both Riley and USC football:

FROM OUR RILEY FILES SERIES LAST SUMMER

THE DEAL BOHN REACHED WITH LINCOLN RILEY

Nov 29, 2021; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Lincoln Riley (left) and Southern California Trojans athletic director Mike Bohn react during a press conference to introduce Riley as USC head coach. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Lincoln Riley was certainly dissatisfied with his situation at Oklahoma to some degree. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have left for USC. What convinced him to move to USC? Fundamentally, Mike Bohn gained his trust, and he did that by giving Riley enough of what he wanted. Riley felt supported by Bohn, and Bohn needed to convey to Riley that he was going to get whatever he needed. That reality — the USC athletic director would give Riley what he wanted — forms a key pillar of this conversation.

Bohn was not going to intervene after a generally — but not fully — successful first year and insist that Riley made changes. Giving Riley the ability to run it back in 2023 with his preferred coaching staff makes political sense. Bohn is allowing Riley to run the program his way. That’s the fundamental deal Bohn and Riley made when Riley agreed to leave Oklahoma on November 28, 2021.

THE CONVERSATION MIKE BOHN HOPEFULLY CONDUCTED WITH RILEY THIS PAST WEEK

LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 29: New USC football head coach Lincoln Riley (L) and Athletic Director Mike Bohn attend a news conference in the 1923 Club at the Los Angeles Coliseum on November 29, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Bohn will allow Riley to do things his way in 2023. That seems fair enough. However, Bohn has hopefully already had a conversation with Riley in which he underscores this basic point: “I’m allowing you to do it your way this season. You’ve earned that. However, we’re expecting more this season. No more Year 1 excuses or limitations. If we don’t see a better product on defense or special teams this coming year, you will have to make changes.”

If Bohn is a true leader, that conversation has already taken place and Riley understands that he can’t permanently stick with his own preferred loyalists if said loyalists don’t begin to do a much better job.

2023 AS AN AUDITION FOR THE BIG TEN

Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

USC not shaking up its coaching staff enables Bohn and Riley to stick with their system and establish internal continuity for one more year, enabling them to evaluate personnel before the move to the Big Ten. Retaining staff and not blowing it up this year makes 2023 a very obvious audition for the Big Ten. The big changes can come if the staff doesn’t make the grade. It might not be satisfying to a lot of USC fans, but the logic is reasonable enough.

EVALUATION PROCESS

Nov 24, 2018; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly shakes hands with Southern California Trojans head coach Clay Helton after the game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Notre Dame defeated USC 24-17. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Retaining his 2022 staff and not making large-scale changes enables Lincoln Riley to more fully evaluate his system and his assistants. Last year was a wild offseason scramble because Riley’s new staff was evaluating Clay Helton’s players from a Clay Helton (Donte Williams, Todd Orlando) 2021 season. This spring, USC assistants will be coaching more transfer portal arrivals, but they will also coach a crop of returning players who played within the Riley-Grinch system. That continuity is expected to provide better coaching, quicker player development, and less uncertainty heading into August camp. It makes coherent sense, but the coaches now have to live up to their end of the bargain and deliver the player development we didn’t see on defense last season.

LINCOLN RILEY'S MATURITY

Jan 2, 2023; Arlington, Texas, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley reacts during the first half against the Tulane Green Wave in the 2023 Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Lincoln Riley is really good at his job … but he is also not yet 40 years old and still has a lot to learn in this industry. In 2023, we’re going to learn a lot about his willingness to not only make changes, but take a harder stance toward people he is loyal to if necessary. Mike Bohn needs to guide Riley through this process of maturation if things get noticeably rocky for the Trojans this coming season. Leadership will be tested.

RECRUITING

Dec 2, 2022; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley reacts against the Utah Utes in the first half of the Pac-12 Championship at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

USC is not where it needs to be in terms of stocking the defensive side of the roster. When signing day arrives in February, the Trojans will need to make at least one more notable splash on the trail. We can disagree on how necessary it was to fire or retain Grinch, but no one should disagree on how important it is to bring even more quality and depth into the program.

THE PORTAL

Oklahoma State Cowboys linebacker Mason Cobb (0) brings down Texas Longhorns running back Bijan Robinson (5) during a college football game between the Oklahoma State Cowboys (OSU) and the University of Texas Longhorns at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022. Oklahoma State won 41-34.

This is where Lincoln Riley has been really good at his job: finding high-leverage portal additions to instantly boost the quality of the roster. USC will have one more portal window in May, after spring ball. The Trojans will need to find multiple high-end additions to their defense. Making sure Alex Grinch doesn’t scare off top prospects will be supremely important. If USC can close the sale with an elite defensive lineman and cover corner, that will really lower the blood pressure among the fan base heading into August.

MIKE BOHN, OVERSEER

Sep 3, 2022; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans athletic director Mike Bohn (left) and Jamal McCoy aka DJ MaL-Ski react before the game against the Rice Owls at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Mike Bohn is in the background, as he should be. This is Lincoln Riley’s show. One should not confuse obscurity or quietude with laziness or paralysis. Bohn is surely walking the fine line of giving Riley what he wants but also impressing upon his head coach the following point: With freedom comes the responsibility to get desired results and meet expectations. Letting Riley handle 2023 his own way is an entirely reasonable move, but freedom is not and cannot be permanent — not if Alex Grinch and the defensive staff fail to move the ball significantly forward this coming year.

Story originally appeared on Trojans Wire