grinch

Even the defense, which eventually ironed itself out, seemed to slide back into bad habits, giving up four explosive pass plays as if to honor its former defensive coordinator, Alex Grinch, who was back coaching on the opposite sideline.

When Lincoln Riley was hired at USC in 2021, one of his first calls was to Alex Grinch.

So when Riley arrived in L.A., on an early-morning plane that November, Grinch was on the same flight.

But when the two coaches reunite Saturday at the Coliseum — this time, with Grinch wearing a different shade of red — Riley won’t be thinking about how things ended for him, less than a year ago, at USC.

Plenty of time certainly for Grinch, who now coaches Wisconsin’s safeties, to understand exactly how Riley’s offense ticks.