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Lincoln Riley Explains Why He Fired Alex Grinch

Lincoln Riley
Lincoln Riley explained why USC fired Alex Grinch. Should USC fans feel confident about the way Riley answered the questions? (Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports)

Lincoln Riley Explains Why He Fired Alex Grinch

Garrett got his wish. Alex Grinch was fired and Lincoln Riley is finally ready to talk about it. Why did Riley fire Grinch besides the obvious fact that USC couldn’t play any defense? Well, Riley said a lot of things in a recent interview with 247 Sports.

Feel free to read the full story on 247. I’ll share some important takeaways I want to address below.

“If we were in a situation where we didn’t have a whole lot left to play for, in terms of a conference championship and having an opportunity there, might feel a little bit different,” Riley said. “But we are still very laser-focused on these opportunities ahead and then whatever comes next after that we’ll deal with at the appropriate time.”

I don’t know what he’s talking about here ^. Your season is toast, pal. Firing Grinch isn’t going to change that part. Frankly, I’m not sure why he even said that. Washington is going to run away with the Pac 12 and the only team that’s going to top them is if Oregon wins the rematch. What’s 3 loss USC accomplishing the rest of the way?

“Yeah, watched the game Saturday night, slept on it and thought about it a lot throughout the night. Didn’t sleep much. Thought about it a little bit more Sunday morning and just felt like it was the best interest of our program, both for both for this year — because we still have a lot to play for, we still have a really cool opportunity in front of us — and for the future that we needed to make the change. We simply weren’t making the progress I think that we that we all expected that we would make. It’s tough because these decisions when you make them there’s no guarantees in this game. We’re two football snaps away from being undefeated in this conference, right now. You never know exactly how these things are gonna go. 

He keeps talking about how the team has a lot to play for. Everything he says makes me think that he doesn’t understand the problem. What’s the problem, Lincoln? Do you know or do you keep saying you have a lot to play for and that justifies the decision?

I think fans should be worried. I don’t think Riley actually understands the problem. Feel free to read the full story but it really sounds like Riley fired Grinch because there is pressure to win this year. Not because he has any idea how to actually fix the defense. Serious red flag responses here.

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