Monday’s Morass: What If There Is More Work For USC

USC Trojan fans like to start their week wondering what’s happening with their favorite team. So with the Trojans sitting at a 5-0 record after winning back-to-back games on the road, there are some new and old unanswered questions left.

A recurring question coming off the Trojans’ road victory that still needs clearing up. How did USC’s defense handle playing on the road and are they better than their ranking? Okay, that’s really two questions.

What if Lincoln Riley is forced to make changes to his staff?

Sometimes an athletic director has to make tough personnel decisions. But there is also a chain of command with each of the teams the athletic director is in charge of. Athletic directors hire their choice to be the head coach along with the school president’s stamp of approval.

When it comes to the team’s assistant coaches, that is usually the head coach’s responsibility with an AD’s rubber stamp approval.

USC’s athletic director Jen Cohen loves football and is also someone known for having a keen eye for talent and fundraising. During the AD Cohen’s introduction, she was asked about many things. One of the questions included her approach to fundraising. But I think her philosophy applies to how she works with coaches too. “I think the best thing about fundraising is it trains you to be a really good leader about listening to what other people want and trying to align people’s passions and needs for something that’s bigger than just that person,” she said. “I do the same thing with a coach. It’s a very service mindset, where you’re there to work on behalf of others, and that’s very much my leadership style.”

Alex Grinch is Lincoln Riley’s choice to be USC’s defensive coordinator and he has Riley’s full support.

USC football is bigger than one person, whether it’s the head coach, an assistant coach, or the athletic director.

Good leaders, whether they’re the head coach or an athletic director work on behalf of others and are required to make tough choices.

What if the Trojans took plays off?

Making the claim players are taking plays off is a dangerous accusation.

Typically when those allegations are made the narrative gets described as, “the team took their foot off the gas.” That’s the feeling some had when the Trojans went up 41-14 against Colorado. There was the feeling that USC put their efforts into cruise control mode.

In the 3rd quarter with 6 minutes left, USC led 41-14, and then suddenly both sides of the ball lost power. The offense somehow only managed to score 7 more points while the defense’s missed tackles count kept climbing with the Buff’s 2nd half 27 points scored.

“The longer we go, the better we get,” and we “Didn’t play a very good second half on any of the three sides,” is hard to understand after the games.

Mainly because Coach Riley’s team mantra isn’t working. For the second week in a row, it was USC’s opponent getting better as the game went on. “We’re a team that gets circled every single week and to come to win these on the road, you go find a way,” Riley said. “Because I promise you at the end of the year, nobody’s gonna look back on this and care. They’re gonna look back and see it was a dub. And hopefully, we can keep stacking those up.”

If Lincoln Riley is telling the public after each game that the Trojans are everyone’s number one target, then we should believe the team is hearing the same message in the locker room. They hear it before, during, and after the game.

If USC is the hunted team this season as Coach Riley believes, then it’s time his team acts like it before they’re killed.

What if Lincoln Riley is still learning how to be a head coach?

Experience isn’t the most important data point on a coach’s resume, however, it does make a difference in decision-making. Part of growing up and mastering a craft is gaining experience and mistakes. Doesn’t matter how old you are, but not making the same mistake twice is a lesson learned.

Albert Einstein was smart and so was his definition of insanity. Einstein’s definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

If Lincoln Riley is USC’s genius he needs to explain why his defense is doing the same thing over and over on a weekly basis and expecting something different. Because the weekly results are driving the fans insane!

Coach Riley is an offensive savant with few rivals. Although his willingness to try the same thing on defense repeatedly, using the same defensive philosophy, and without the desired results is confusing, if not insane.

Being a head coach means knowing when to admit a new direction is needed and learning when to make the adjustment. That comes from experience.

The post Monday’s Morass: What If There Is More Work For USC appeared first on On3.