Former USC linebacker Tackett Curtis follows coach to third school

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On Friday, USC officially hired longtime TCU head coach Gary Patterson as its defensive coordinator. Patterson is the Trojans’ third DC in five years under head coach Lincoln Riley, joining Alex Grinch and D’Anton Lynn.

Grinch was Riley’s initial defensive coordinator at USC. Prior to that, he worked under Riley at Oklahoma. After getting fired by the Trojans in November of 2023, Grinch spent the past two seasons as the safeties coach at Wisconsin, before recently getting hired as the defensive coordinator at UCF.

A month after Grinch’s firing by the Trojans, USC true freshman linebacker Tackett Curtis entered the transfer portal. He wound up following Grinch to Wisconsin, where he played the last two seasons.

Following the Badgers’ 2025 season, Curtis entered the transfer portal a second time. Recently, he signed with UCF, reuniting him with Grinch at a third different school.

At this point, it is hard not to see the pattern, and even somewhat comical. For whatever reason, Curtis seems to love playing for Grinch.

Those of us who watched the Trojans’ defense under Grinch might struggle to see what Curtis finds appealing about playing for him. Ultimately, however where he plays college football is his decision to make. Still, it is interesting to speculate what might have happened had Curtis stuck around at USC to play for Lynn and Patterson.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Former USC football linebacker Tackett Curtis joins Alex Grinch at UCF

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