great defense

In his years-long pursuit to build a great defense at USC, Lincoln Riley first entrusted the job to a familiar face from his Oklahoma days. When that failed, Riley handed the reins of his defense — and a massive paycheck — to the crosstown rival’s rising star … who then left two years later.

Now, in his third try at finding a leader for USC’s defense, Riley is working to lure a Hall of Famer to Hollywood.

USC is closing in on a deal to hire Gary Patterson, the longtime Texas Christian coach, as its defensive coordinator, a person familiar with the decision but not authorized to speak publicly told The Times.

Patterson, who hasn’t been a full-time coach since 2021, would come to USC just weeks after being voted into the College Football Hall of Fame on his first ballot. Patterson spent 24 seasons at Texas Christian, where he developed his reputation as a preeminent defensive mind and masterful evaluator of talent. His 4-2-5 scheme led the Horned Frogs to finish No. 1 in total defense five times in his 21 years as coach, while he was twice named coach of the year by the Associated Press.

Patterson was the winningest coach in TCU history and the second-longest-tenured coach in Division I, behind only Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, when he resigned in October 2021 after being told he wouldn’t be back the following season.

Riley, who was Oklahoma’s coach at the time, said he was “sick” when he heard the news of Patterson’s exit. The two coaches knew each other well, having crossed paths in the Big 12 for half a decade by that point.

Riley left for USC a month later, while Patterson floated around other Texas football programs in consultant roles. He worked as a defensive analyst on Steve Sarkisian’s staff at Texas in 2022 and was offered a chance to return in 2023 but opted to take a year off. Patterson then accepted a role as a “senior level strategic consultant” on Baylor’s staff in February 2024, only to leave six months later, on the doorstep of the season.

Riley, meanwhile, was struggling to find any sense of stability for his USC defense. Under Alex Grinch, who followed Riley from Oklahoma, the Trojans unraveled on that end. The nadir came in 2023 as the defense finished 121st in the nation in points per game, giving up 34.4, and 119th in yards per game, giving up 432.8. Grinch was fired the first week of November.

The next day Riley declared USC would build “a great defense” during his tenure.

“I have complete belief, conviction,” the coach said. “It is going to happen. There’s not a reason in the world why it can’t.”

That process has been slow in the Big Ten. In two seasons as defensive coordinator, D’Anton Lynn made substantial progress in building a unit that could withstand the conference’s more physical nature. After hitting rock bottom with Grinch, USC gave up 10 fewer points per game under Lynn and nearly 50 fewer yards per game on the ground.

But that progress hit some snags last season as injuries ravaged the Trojans’ depth on defense. Then, just before the bowl game, Lynn left for the same job at his alma mater, Penn State, after rejecting the school’s advances a year earlier.

Coincidentally, it was Patterson’s old program, TCU, that ended the Trojans’ season a few days later with a walk-off touchdown in the Alamo Bowl.

The search that led Riley to focus on Patterson lasted more than three weeks into the offseason, through the January transfer portal window. USC still managed to add five players on defense, including one of the top defensive backs available in Iowa State’s Jontez Williams.

Patterson would inherit a defense without many of its top contributors from a season ago, including linebacker Eric Gentry, safety Kamari Ramsey and defensive lineman Anthony Lucas. But the Trojans also welcomed the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class to campus recently, a group that includes five top-100 prospects on defense, according to 247 Sports.

For Patterson, getting the best out of his defenders never proved to be a problem at TCU, where he was known for unearthing underrated prospects. But how the dynamic might look at USC with Patterson, a 21-year coach, stepping into a coordinator role remains unclear.

It’s also uncertain how Patterson’s hire would impact the Trojans’ remaining defensive staff. Secondary coach Doug Belk didn’t have his contract renewed, possibly to clear the way for Patterson to coach safeties. Mike Ekeler was hired from Nebraska to coach linebackers in addition to special teams, perhaps making linebackers coach Rob Ryan expendable.

The status of defensive line coach Shaun Nua also remains up in the air.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Two years ago, a day after he decided to fire Alex Grinch as USC‘s defensive coordinator, Lincoln Riley made a promise to those concerned about the future of the Trojans’ defense.

“I have complete belief, conviction. We will play great defense here,” the coach said in November 2023. “It is going to happen. There’s not a reason in the world why it can’t.”

Two years later, another defensive coordinator is out the door at USC. The day after Grinch’s replacement, D’Anton Lynn, left to take the same job at Penn State, Riley stood in front of reporters, assuring everyone once again that soon enough, USC would be great on that side of the ball.

“The arrow,” he said Tuesday, “is pointing straight up.”

“The opportunity for us to make a hire, to continue to make us better and to go from being a very good defense to being a great defense is the goal.”

Yet patience on that promise is wearing thin, especially given how the season had ended less than an hour before. USC blew a 10-point lead in the final five minutes against Texas Christian on Tuesday, a team playing without its star quarterback, before missing four tackles on a third-and-20 walk-off touchdown in overtime. The disastrous Alamo Bowl defeat would serve as an especially sobering reminder that while USC made progress under Lynn, it’s still a ways from heeding Riley’s guarantee.

And now, the defense will have to start again, with a new direction, a new scheme and a new coordinator, who will be Riley’s third hire in five seasons at USC.

In spite of all that, Riley was upbeat when asked about the unit’s future Tuesday night. He felt “fantastic,” he said, about where USC’s defense was headed.

“We have the personnel,” Riley said of becoming a great defensive unit. “We’re on an upward trend. And, you know, there’s going to be a lot of interest in this job.
I mean, this will be an extremely, extremely coveted job, and I can already tell by the nature of what my phone’s been like the last couple of days.”

Several potential candidates with deep experience, as well as close ties to USC athletics officials, are expected to be available.

Former Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski, who worked at Washington under current USC athletic director Jennifer Cohen, was let go by the Longhorns earlier this month. Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden, meanwhile, worked closely with USC general manager Chad Bowden at Notre Dame and could be looking for a job as soon as next week.

Both coached college defenses that ranked in the top four in the nation in points allowed during the 2024 season.

USC appeared bound for a similar trajectory after Year 1 with Lynn. The Trojans allowed 10 fewer points per game, leaping from 121st in scoring defense under Grinch to 56th in his first season at USC. They got stingier on third down — 106th nationally to 21st — and in the red zone — 119th to 69th. Lynn was even named candidate for the Broyles Award, given to the nation’s top assistant.

In some respects, USC’s defense continued to take steps forward in Year 2 under Lynn. It gave up fewer points and fewer yards per game. The pass rush improved, adding 10 sacks to its season total in 2025.

But the personnel on defense was less proven this season — and more prone to mistakes. The secondary struggled through stretches. A thin group of linebackers was often overwhelmed. The defensive interior was manhandled for most of the season, and in each of their three regular-season losses, the Trojans were trampled on the ground.

Last month, when asked about the group’s inconsistency, Lynn said that USC’s youth forced him to “scale back” significantly on defense. He actually wondered, in the wake of USC’s loss to Oregon, if he shouldn’t have scaled back the defense even more this season.

“It’s different when you’re teaching an 18-year-old versus teaching a guy who has been at two to three schools who has already played a bunch of college ball,” Lynn said.

Lynn, nonetheless, leaves USC in a better place than when he arrived. The nation’s No. 1 recruiting class lands on campus next week, with plenty of highly ranked reinforcements on the way. Talented freshmen like defensive linemen Jahkeem Stewart and Floyd Boucard as well as defensive back Alex Graham are rising stars who should be ready to step into significant roles.

But USC will have to replace three starters in the secondary, including Kamari Ramsey, its best linebacker [Eric Gentry] and its top run stopper on the defensive line [Anthony Lucas]. Whomever takes over as coordinator will be expected to take a significant step forward immediately, up against one of the nation’s toughest schedules in what should be a decisive season for the program.

Then there’s the matter of Riley’s job security, which could make any available top coordinator queasy.

Yet as far as the coach is concerned, the path to finding a great coordinator and fielding a great defense isn’t that far off from what USC has now.

“I definitely don’t want to press reset,” Riley said. “I’m excited about the process, and I think it’s going to make us better, I know it will. So, we’ll wake up tomorrow morning and we’ll get on it.”