Development of USC Corners a Priority

USC defensive coordinator Alex Grinch unsatisfied with cornerback play

After the Trojans surrendered a handful of big plays through their first three games, Grinch says ‘the lowlights cannot be that low’

USC CB Domani Jackson played just 45 snaps as a freshman last season. and while he improved against Stanford, he has been burned for big plays at times through the first three games this season. “He’s on a steep learning curve,” Coach Lincoln Riley said. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Luca Evans (OC Register —  LOS ANGELES — They broke into a traditional Tuesday drill, a member of USC’s secondary charging across the practice turf at a ball carrier, waiting until the very last second for a coach to shout for them to make a move and try to shake the defender in open space.

For all of defensive coordinator Alex Grinch’s defensive knowledge, the complex understanding of schemes that would go right over the average pedestrian’s head, this was simple to understand. Mano-a-mano. Go-get-him. Little nuance to evaluate besides angles and technique.

So he watched junior cornerback Ceyair Wright, touted as one of USC’s most improved players from fall camp, whiff on a tackle. Then he missed another, grabbing at air off a poor angle as a ball carrier darted past him. And Grinch shook his head, visibly unsatisfied, as an assistant coach barked at Wright for walking – not jogging – back to his post.

Many who have coached with and been coached by Grinch in the past describe his approach similarly: “no bull(expletive),” as Etienne Boulay said, who played for Grinch at the University of New Hampshire. Unafraid to tell it exactly as it is. And during Tuesday’s media availability after practice, Grinch told it like it was: USC’s secondary had put together some decent film through three games, but there was still a definite need for more “intentional, competitive reps.”

“From a consistency standpoint, the lowlights cannot be that low,” Grinch said Tuesday. “We have to get to a point where a bad play defensively is a first down – not necessarily an explosive (play). So that’s something to challenge in the group.”

USC’s new-look defensive line, with transfer Bear Alexander providing consistent pressure from the nose and returner Solomon Byrd “playing at a different level” off the edge – as Grinch said – has been a standout through three games against largely overwhelmed offenses. The safeties, as well, have been standouts: returning first-team All-American Calen Bullock has four pass breakups through just three games and junior Jaylin Smith is USC’s leading tackler after finishing ninth last year.

If there has been a trouble spot, then, it’s been at the cornerback position, where the Trojans are placing an overwhelming amount of stock in Wright and Domani Jackson’s development ahead of Arizona transfer Christian Roland-Wallace, who offers depth and versatility but has been largely quiet through three games.

Wright has made a handful of mistakes but also clear strides since an up-and-down sophomore season, frequently draped over opposing receivers and bounding up in exuberance after wayward passes.

“The biggest thing … was his body truly developing, and him gaining that confidence,” cornerbacks coach Donte Williams said. “And I think we’re going to see both things.”

Jackson, meanwhile, has been targeted 10 times and surrendered seven catches, according to Pro Football Focus. He had a stronger game against Stanford, but he was burned in consecutive weeks to start the season, particularly struggling against Nevada.

It’s essentially the sophomore’s rookie year of college football, after playing all of 45 snaps last season. Riley noted Jackson’s improvement Tuesday, but added “he also has some moments there where you could tell that it’s been a while since he’s been out there playing.”

“He’s on a steep learning curve,” Riley said.

Grinch, for the second straight week, preached that the percentage of overall defensive looks tilted toward positive through USC’s first three games. But a man known for challenging his troops issued another on Tuesday.

“You can’t say, it happens sometimes,” Grinch said, in reference to the Trojans’ corners getting beat. “Those things can’t happen. The easiest way to get beat is somebody running by you. There’s a couple clips of that, which was really disappointing.”

ocregister.com

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UtahTrojan
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September 14, 2023 8:15 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

What is this? The WWF? Are they going to call for a cage match next?

UtahTrojan
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September 14, 2023 8:16 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Local sheriff is saying this isn’t true, there were two suspicious persons call but nothing else.
A distraction we could do without.

ATL D.D.S.
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September 15, 2023 12:21 am
Reply to  UtahTrojan

And I am sure the local sheriff of the metropolis of Norman, OK has no axe to grind. Yeah, right.

I cannot see LR lying about this. What possible motivation could he have to make up this kind of story?

I believe Coach Riley. The local yahoos were pissed that their head ball coach saw greater horizons than those of OK. Much like the idiot Alabama fan who poisoned the famous centuries-old oak trees on the Auburn campus out of spite, “spurned” Sooner fans thought it would be justified to eff up the Riley’s house.

UtahTrojan
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September 14, 2023 8:18 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Helton years really hurt us. We are barely ahead of the bRuins.

Chris
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Chris
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September 14, 2023 7:06 am

Corners have the toughest job of any defensive player. All the rules favor the offense.

UtahTrojan
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September 13, 2023 9:15 pm

I get that winning the Heisman is much harder a second time. But just read an article that says Caleb is behind Ewers:
Ewers –
2023 season stats ; YDS. 609 ; TD. 6 ; INT. 0 ; QBR. 79.6. Against Rice his QBR was 60.2
Williams:
2023 season stats · YDS. 878 · TD. 12 · INT. 0 · QBR. 92.1. Plus one rushing TD

alot of credit for the victory over a much weaker than usual Alabama but the numbers don’t lie.

Steveg
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September 14, 2023 4:07 pm
Reply to  UtahTrojan

When you look at the stats you have to realize that both Qb’s have only played the equivalent of 2 games. Williams has sat for 4 quarters.

UtahTrojan
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September 14, 2023 8:20 pm
Reply to  Steveg

Exactly. In the Rice game Ewers was rather pedestrian.

John Weld
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September 13, 2023 2:29 pm

NOTE: If you are entering or editing a comment and you receive an alert that says, “Nonce is Invalid” you simply hit the post or save button again and your comment or edit will be updated on the blog correctly.

For bloggers that are curious, this alert is simply a error check by the blog to see if the comment or edit are okay. Normally this alert doesn’t get posted on the front of the blog but is for me. I am working to get this resolved.
THIS ERROR HAS BEEN FIXED. 9/14/23

ATL D.D.S.
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September 13, 2023 3:59 pm
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thanks for the explanation

RialtoTrojan
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September 14, 2023 10:18 am
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I got this notification the other day and it posted on the second try. So thank you for pointing this out. Your post is demonstrating why I prefer your blog to others (I’m looking at you Scott Wolf) Both blog owners take time to respond. ( the predecessor to Wolf’s blog was Michael Lev- and he responded frequently) Your blog keeps the community standards. Posts can edited and you both care about your product. I get more information here than many other places.

John Weld
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September 14, 2023 2:58 pm
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The ‘Nonce is Invalid’ error has now been fixed. It will start showing up once you clear the cache and load the new browser program or it will take place over the next 24 hours automatically.

Rock2112
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September 14, 2023 10:39 am
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Hi John, is there a fix yet for the error when trying to edit a post where it tells us to “slow down” and won’t let us save edits?

John Weld
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September 14, 2023 2:54 pm
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Yes, the fix was uploaded to the system 2 days ago. If you are still getting that response you will need to log off of the blog, Then (with the browser still open) press the the control button + F5 button and then log back into the blog. Control+F5 clears the browser’s cache and it will then load the new blog program. Let me know if you are still having a problem at: john@trojandailyblog.com

Note: Pressing Control+F5 buttons will solve most internet browser problems.

Rock2112
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September 15, 2023 12:51 pm
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Great, thanks John! Your name is deliberately misspelled, because I am going to try to edit and see if it works! (And it did, so now your name is not misspelled).

SC Gator
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September 14, 2023 12:42 pm
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I got the message trying to post a message with a grammatically incomplete sentence, the way CLR talks, with no subject. It read “Pretty sure…”

The system wouldn’t let me post. I tried 3 more times, same result. Then I figured maybe it’s a grammar check. So I changed the sentence to read “I’m pretty sure…” and the system accepted it.

Steveg
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September 13, 2023 2:50 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Another big question is where would he go?

Steveg
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September 13, 2023 4:28 pm
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Not sure how this got here, it is for Allens post below about coach Prime.

Golden Trojan
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September 13, 2023 6:28 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

As Steveg pointed out earlier that it has been 2 years ago today that Clay Helton was fired. What a ride it has been since. SC hires a new HC that totally gets the new college football dynamics. He transformed a broken program into a NC contender with the Transfer Portal and NIL. Deon Sanders completely turned over the CO roster. NIL has brought USC a freshman QB, Malachi Nelson, who is already a millionaire. Julien Lewis could be financially set before becoming a Trojan. And then we have the blow up of Power 5 conferences and by extension the… Read more »

UtahTrojan
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September 13, 2023 1:31 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Not convinced on the high first round prediction when he still has much better talent to play against.

RialtoTrojan
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September 13, 2023 10:05 am

I wonder if Ceyair Wright isn’t preoccupied with something. I’m not a defensive back guru, it makes sense that his job is to cover streaking receivers on his side of the field. Letting receivers blow by him is inexcusable. So is he busy trying to diagnose the play or unsure of his assignment? He should not pull off his receiver until one of two things happens. If the ball crosses the line of scrimmage, run or pass, but doesn’t come his way, then he should leave his coverage. Maybe someone on the other side of the ball, can coach him.

TrojanRJJ
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September 13, 2023 2:36 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

If not for Blackmon, who improved hugely under Donte, I would agree. But, I do not know if Blackmon’s “foundation” was built somewhere else (CO) and then Donte simply capitalized on someone else’s work. It is quite clear that Domani has not developed much under Donte. It would appear Donte has plenty of talent at DB. The issue is whether he can teach the DBs to grasp how to play inside their system.

Steveg
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September 13, 2023 2:53 pm
Reply to  TrojanRJJ

So when someone like Bryson Shaw or CRW comes along, they would know if Donte is any good or not. Both had decent coaches at their previous schools. Now that Blackmon is gone would he have an opinion he would be willing to share on Donte.

Golden Trojan
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September 13, 2023 5:02 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

If I’m an opposing HC/OC, I’m going after Wright and Jackson all game.