O/NSO: Positive defensive talk, now go prove it edition
The Obvious: Training camp is filled with coaches saying some really nice stuff about their team and sometimes not-so-nice, as well. It’s that time in training camp when it’s all talk and much of it “coach-speak.” It’s not a crime to talk, but at some point, the talk will cease, and all the rhetoric will be compared to what happens in the games. Simply put, be careful what you say now, it could come back to bite you.
The Not So Obvious: For a majority of coaches, they have no inclination to have the media watch their practices, although some loosen the rules somewhat to allow viewing of team stretching and limited early position drills. USC head coach Lincoln Riley falls into this category. The USC second-year head coach, for the most part, thankfully allows good access for his assistant coaches and players on both sides of the line of scrimmage.
However, that doesn’t mean that what’s said on the record in training camp won’t be referenced if things during the season don’t turn out to be so good. However, in fairness, good things said in training camp will be recognized and remembered during the regular season if those same words live up to what was said.
USC head coach Lincoln Riley has given some very optimistic comments about his 2023 defense thus far in training camp.
(Photo above by Erik McKinney/WeAreSC)
The Obvious: Lincoln Riley thus far in his young USC coaching career has been exceedingly courteous and respectful towards the L.A. media.
The Not So Obvious: The L.A. media is a pretty good group of folks that are just trying to do their job and aren’t looking for a “gotcha” moment unless warranted. Right now, it is a good relationship between the coach and the media. As Riley now knows for sure, the L.A. media is not the fishbowl that Norman, Oklahoma is 24-7.
The Obvious: The Los Angeles media is not awestruck by a team’s success or the players that are headliners.
The Not So Obvious: The City of Angels has been forever and a day a location filled to the brim with stars, superstars, winning teams, and championship-level teams both at the college and professional levels in all sports. However, what you say to the media in training camp may be used for or against you during the season. In other words, you own what you say, and past USC head football coaches know that to be true all too well.
The Obvious: Clay Helton is a former head football coach at the University of Southern California.
The Not So Obvious: Gentleman Clay was a head coach that found out the hard way that his words of regurgitated old cliches and repeated optimism would come back to mock and embarrass himself locally and nationally. Helton was a good man, but his words more often than not were fodder for being flat-out bull sheet. Each year Gentleman Clay would promise his teams would be physical, and they were not. Each year was going to be his best-disciplined team yet, but his team continued to spiral downward, completely undisciplined. Perhaps the best words spoken by Helton were that USC evaluates success by winning championships. In his tenure at USC, Helton attained one Pac-12 title (2017).
By the time Clay Helton was fired at USC, he had lost all credibility with his comments and evaluations about his teams.
(Photo above by Leon Bennett/Getty Images)
Furthermore, Helton’s postgame press conferences, again and again, explained losses by saying his players were warriors, his “men” were like his sons and constant credibility reminders that he was the son of an offensive line coach to prove he knew what he was doing in the running game. The media lost all faith in hearing unrealistic words. Oh, yeah, Helton said he couldn’t answer questions until he had watched the game film, which does have its legitimacy, but he turned that answer into an art form.
The biggest words of malarkey for the O/NSO were the year Helton reinstated himself as offensive coordinator and play-caller during the season. He predicted the team would show its real strengths during the month of November, which would showcase the Trojans at their best. The problem was the media all knew the weakest part of the Trojans’ schedule that season was the last four games of the season. Of course, the Trojans proceeded to perform admirably during that November run, and the Men of Troy looked like world-beaters. But the media knew better. Helton was buying time but not credibility. His words rang hollow.
The Obvious: In terms of credibility of words and actions, you’d have to have been a blockhead, numbskull, or a dunce not to believe what Lincoln Riley says regarding his 2023 offense, which might arguably be the best in the country.
The Not So Obvious: The O/NSO knows of no one that doesn’t believe the USC offense is going to be prolific as long as the young man that wears No. 13 can stay vertical for at least 12 regular season games. Words matter and Riley’s words about his offense can almost be received as gridiron gospel. It doesn’t figure that anything he says about the offense in training camp won’t be believed or become true.
As long as quarterback Caleb Williams #13 stays healthy, Lincoln Riley’s positive comments about his offense will ring true in 2023.
( Photo above by © Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)
The Obvious: The real potential dilemma of this 2023 training camp is the words from Lincoln Riley regarding the defensive side of the ball.
The Not So Obvious: There is no argument or debate that in spite of an exceedingly gifted amount of turnovers on defense early in the 2022 season, the defense – overall – was simply horrendous. We don’t need to go over the 2022 defensive sieve once again. However, to historically complicate matters, Lincoln Riley – an accepted offensive guru – has a reputation of either not having a lot of interest in defense, or he simply does not hire the right defensive coordinator to run the show on that side of the ball. This, too, has been well documented. This is what makes what Riley says about this defense in training camp so critical. His credibility is on the line going forward.
The Obvious: Thus far in training camp, Lincoln Riley has been very optimistic about his defense and believes they will be much improved in 2023.
The Not So Obvious: There isn’t a USC fan or truthfully a media member that doesn’t hope that Riley is spot-on in his defensive assessments thus far into training camp. We all know that the head coach retained his 2022 defensive coordinator, Alex Grinch, who was and will continue to be under scrutiny throughout 2023. The Trojans’ defense is expected – on paper – to be much improved over last season. To be objective about it, it’s honestly the second half of the season when the biggest tests of training camp credibility words will be on the line. Games at Notre Dame, Utah, Washington, at Oregon, UCLA, and somewhere in between at a trip to Cal will test the rhetoric Riley says in training camp.
Trojans’ defensive coordinator Alex Grinch (above) and Lincoln Riley will be under scrutiny during the 2023 defensive season.
(Photo above by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The Obvious: It figures that with the first six games against San Jose State, Nevada, Stanford, at ASU, at Colorado, and Arizona, Lincoln Riley’s training camp words of defensive optimism should ring true.
The Not So Obvious: If the Trojans don’t dominate on defense in the first half of a soft serve ice cream portion of the schedule, Riley’s words from training camp will be reviewed and scrutinized. The second half of the 2023 schedule will be a gauntlet of ranked teams, and if things don’t go well defensively, Riley will be reminded of his training camp defensive evaluation words. As they say, “Words matter.” Optimism should not be mistaken for realism.
The Obvious: And finally, the 2023 season should be a high-scoring season for the offense, but there is still well-founded caution when it comes to the defense – despite the new talent infusion.
The Not So Obvious: Perhaps the lessons to be learned are that while a head coach wants fans and his own team to believe positively about the upcoming season, it might be wise to take great care in what you say publicly so that one’s credibility down the line remains intact despite the normal ups and downs of a season. In other words, in USC’s training camp case, what is said about the defense will probably be tested in the last six games of the season.
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