Gary Patterson heading to USC with goal of finally fixing Trojans defense

Gary Patterson had talked about this possibility with Lincoln Riley a few years ago.What might a team look like pairing Riley’s rocket-fueled offense with Patterson’s rugged defense?USC will find out in late August after Riley made the former longtime TCU coach his defensive coordinator and most consequential hire as part of the Trojans’ bid to finally make the College Football Playoff.“Really,” Patterson said Wednesday during an introductory news conference, “our goal here is to teach the defense to try to get it to the level that the offense has played here.”But Riley knows from his time coaching against Patterson’s defenses in the Big 12 how they might complete his team.“There was never anybody who was more of a pain to game-plan for and try to figure out how to move the ball against,” Riley said, “than this guy.”It might feel like a slightly unorthodox move, Riley selecting a defensive savant who will turn 66 next month.Patterson has been out of full-time coaching since resigning as TCU’s coach in October 2021.Defense has been the biggest issue for Riley in his four seasons at USC, the side of the ball that almost always led to disappointment.

Patterson acknowledged the need for a quick fix as he tries to elevate USC’s defense in a way that predecessors D’Anton Lynn and Alex Grinch could not.“There’s no patience here,” Patterson said.“Our job is to come in and coach has been here for a little bit, and we need to make a difference.”Known as a top architect of the 4-2-5 defense, Patterson said what he runs at USC will be forged on the fly.

It will be based on the opponent, the strengths of his personnel and concepts he learned in recent years as a special assistant at Texas and an analyst at Baylor.He also mentioned being impressed by Indiana’s attacking defense while watching plenty of college football.“Not necessarily,” he said, “are you going to probably see all Gary Patterson defense.”Patterson joked that he...