USC is closing in on naming Gary Patterson the Trojans' defensive coordinator
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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 a rising star in the coaching ranks … 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 head 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 member of any college football staff since 2021, comes to USC just a few weeks after being voted into the College Football Hall of Fame on his first ballot. Patterson spent 24 seasons at Texas Christian — and 21 as head coach — where he staked his reputation as a preeminent defensive mind and masterful evaluator of talent. His 4-2-5 scheme would lead the Horned Frogs to finish No. 1 in total defense five times in his 21 years as head coach, while he was twice named college football’s coach of the year by the Associated Press.
Read more:Former TCU coach Gary Patterson would be a good fit for USC as defensive coordinator
Patterson was the winningest coach in TCU history and the second-longest tenured coach in all of college football, behind only Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, when he resigned in October 2021 after being told he wouldn’t be back the following season at TCU.
Riley, who was Oklahoma’s head coach at the time, said that 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 to L.A. from Oklahoma, the Trojans unraveled on that end. The nadir came in 2023, as the defense finished 121st in the nation in points allowed and 119th in yards allowed. Grinch was fired the first week of November.
Read more:Lincoln Riley vowed to fix the Trojans' defense, but it faltered again in Alamo Bowl
The next day, Riley declared that USC would build “a great defense” during his tenure.
“I have complete belief, conviction,” the coach said in November 2023. “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 in the 2024 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, who 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 the defensive end, including one of the top defensive backs available in Iowa State’s Jontez Williams.
Read more:USC defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn takes Penn State defensive coordinator job
Patterson inherits a defense that will be without many of its top contributors from a season ago — linebacker Eric Gentry, safety Kamari Ramsey or 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 on the defensive end. But how the dynamic might look at USC with Patterson, a 21-year head coach, now stepping into a coordinator role remains unclear.
It’s also uncertain how Patterson’s hire will 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 current linebackers coach Rob Ryan expendable.
The status of defensive line coach Shaun Nua also remains up in the air.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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