Alex Grinch Tabbed UCF Football’s Defensive Coordinator
- Thread starter Central Floridave
- Start date
"Oklahoma jumped more than 100 spots in third-down conversion percentage, leaping from 118 (46.4%) in 2018 to 17 (32.2) in 2019." Given how terrible we've been on third downs historically I would be happy with this kind of improvement.
He's worked at major programs, is relatively young, has twice been a semifinalist for assistant coach of the year.
He at least has a resume. Addison Williams had no resume when he got the job.
No idea if he's any good or not but I know enough to know that looking at stats isn't always the best way to judge a coach. Chinanders defense at Boise looks a whole lot better than it did at UCF. This guy was good enough at Oklahoma that Lincoln Riley brought him to USC.
In his first season at USC in 2022, the Trojans led the nation in turnover margin (1.57). The turnover battle was a major focus for the Trojans as they ranked No. 3 in the nation with 19 passes intercepted by 11 different players. USC ranked No. 5 in the nation in turnovers gained with 29. USC played in the Cotton Bowl to conclude the 2022 season.
Grinch, spent the previous 3 seasons (2019-21) at Oklahoma as the defensive coordinator and safeties coach. The Sooners ranked 24th nationally in rushing defense in 2021 (123.8) and advanced to the Alamo Bowl. In 2020 while winning the Big 12 title and playing in the Cotton Bowl, OU was third nationally in interceptions (16), fourth in opponent third-down conversion percentage (27.9), seventh in sacks (3.4) and ninth in both pass efficiency defense (112.9) and rushing defense (105.1) while allowing just 21.7 points per game. Oklahoma was 17th in the nation in opponent third-down conversion percentage (32.2) in 2019 when he was a Broyles Award semifinalist and OU won the Big 12 crown and played in a College Football Playoff semifinal in the Peach Bowl.
Grinch spent 2018 as Ohio State's co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach as the Buckeyes won the Big Ten and Rose Bowl.
He was Washington State's defensive coordinator and secondary coach for 3 seasons (2015-17). The 2017 Cougars were 16th nationally in total defense (323.3) and ninth in both passing defense (170.9) and turnovers gained (28) as he was a Broyles Award semifinalist. WSU played in the 2015 Sun Bowl and 2016 and 2017 Holiday Bowls.
Grinch was the safeties coach at Missouri for 3 seasons (2012-14). The Tigers captured the SEC East Division titles in 2013 and 2014 and won the Cotton Bowl in 2013 and Citrus Bowl in 2014.
Grinch, spent the previous 3 seasons (2019-21) at Oklahoma as the defensive coordinator and safeties coach. The Sooners ranked 24th nationally in rushing defense in 2021 (123.8) and advanced to the Alamo Bowl. In 2020 while winning the Big 12 title and playing in the Cotton Bowl, OU was third nationally in interceptions (16), fourth in opponent third-down conversion percentage (27.9), seventh in sacks (3.4) and ninth in both pass efficiency defense (112.9) and rushing defense (105.1) while allowing just 21.7 points per game. Oklahoma was 17th in the nation in opponent third-down conversion percentage (32.2) in 2019 when he was a Broyles Award semifinalist and OU won the Big 12 crown and played in a College Football Playoff semifinal in the Peach Bowl.
Grinch spent 2018 as Ohio State's co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach as the Buckeyes won the Big Ten and Rose Bowl.
He was Washington State's defensive coordinator and secondary coach for 3 seasons (2015-17). The 2017 Cougars were 16th nationally in total defense (323.3) and ninth in both passing defense (170.9) and turnovers gained (28) as he was a Broyles Award semifinalist. WSU played in the 2015 Sun Bowl and 2016 and 2017 Holiday Bowls.
Grinch was the safeties coach at Missouri for 3 seasons (2012-14). The Tigers captured the SEC East Division titles in 2013 and 2014 and won the Cotton Bowl in 2013 and Citrus Bowl in 2014.
He's our coach now, so there's nothing to do but hope for the best. With that said, I'm a bigger supporter of recent success over "worked at major programs / relatively young"... I hope he's great, but pretty bad recent resume.
Wisconsin Head Coach Luke Fickell had this to say about Grinch, "I want guys that have had a lot of tough situations. Define what you want to say as failing, I don't know, you weren't as good as you want to be as a player in my mind, but it doesn't matter if you were released or whatever. Guys that have gone through that and can humble themselves and recognize that, I think they're a hell of a lot better in the long run. . . . ."We had some mutual connections and knew that our ideas and things we do align in a lot of different ways. Once I got to know him and met him a little bit, to just see and feel the humility he had and all the things he went through, never complained, never made an excuse, never pointed a finger. He's a very smart football coach that's a hell of a lot better now than he was then because of those experiences"
The redemption tour team. Frost is trying to cast the most intriguing college football comeback documentary ever.
Pretty bad? Horrible as So Cal DC in 2022 and again in 2023 until he got fired. Why are we bringing in guys who failed? Didn't we learn, just last year, with Ted Roof? Hope Frost knows more than we do....
Great coaches become Bad coaches very quickly. Bad coaches become good coaches in new places. It's almost as if there are multiple factors and variables that go into it over the course of time, situation, players and programs.
I'd MUCH rather have this guy than Chins.....but I wonder why it took so long to hire Grinch who should have been available 10 days ago.
I do appreciate Frost not hiring a friend without much of a resume....like the OC.
I do appreciate Frost not hiring a friend without much of a resume....like the OC.
hopefully players UCF wants to retain and pursue aren’t easily influenced by social media bc the reaction by fans from ‘UCF Twitter’ is 99.9% negative . Quite a meltdown
Hopefully the GRINCH will be stingy on defense and give up NO YARDs! See what I did there. LOL 
44 years old with a lot of experience putting together defenses in power conferences to accompany an offense that is going to run a ton of tempo. Probably not a lot of guys out there with the same profile in our price range. UCFast is officially back baby.
gus is the original grinch who stole ucf’s glory days
how is his resume atrocious? he got fired from SC? every coach gets fired eventually.
I don't think Chins was a great fan of UCF either. Seems like he has his gig now out at Boise.
Question: Has anybody compared the new guy's stats with our last DCs under Gus? I haven't but they are probably not as good as this guy coming in.
Question: Has anybody compared the new guy's stats with our last DCs under Gus? I haven't but they are probably not as good as this guy coming in.
People on here are incredible. They act like they are experts in fields they never worked in or sports they never played. Frost knows more about football than anyone on here and hired someone that can directly affect his job, so I’m going to trust his judgement.
I’ve been employed at jobs where I was doomed to fail and did and I worked at jobs where I was extremely successful, it depends on multiple factors and I’m sure coaching is the same
Oh, **** off. It’s a sports forum. The entire point of the forum is to post opinions.
Btw, I’ve played and coached… So again, **** off.
He only has 1 year as their DC, is that right? I wonder if he was one of the 'assistants' that dished some dirt on Frost after the Nebraska canning, hence never was considered.
"coached" did you get fired? or you excelled at every stop and told them to **** off as you departed to the next opportunity?
Lol, you do know that I don’t give a shit what you think, right?
This is a crummy site that has minimal information on football, almost all is speculation, and most frequent posters are not even UCF fans. The paid site, which I was on for many years, has regressed into a political site instead of a sports site.
And you never played or coached, anyone who did wouldn’t act as authoritative as you, they know there are lots of factors at play in coaching.
Lol, what a clown
Obviously none of us have any clue if this Frost experiment is going to work or not. If it ends up being a disaster in 2-3 years, besides Frost and friends being shown the door, Terry needs to be given the boot. This staff is a collection of mutts, & our immediate future is 100% owned by TM. If it excels, all honor to his name. If not, no more excuses.
You sure wrote a Tolstoy novel for someone who doesn’t give a shit. Like I said, **** off.
A good FCS DC would have been better than Grinch. It's telling when both OU and USC defenses improved vastly after he left.
UCF fanbase:
Scott Frost is back!!!! We’re going to win 22 games per season.
Same UCF fanbase:
You’re not allowed to hire staff we think have some questions.
Scott Frost is back!!!! We’re going to win 22 games per season.
Same UCF fanbase:
You’re not allowed to hire staff we think have some questions.
I hate to brag on anything Frost does, but I do like this pick. To be up front, Gary Patterson was my guy from Day 1. I would have moved Heaven and Earth to bring Patterson to UCF. It would have been a boom or bust hire, but Patterson should have been the guy.
Grinch is a pretty good, safe backup plan. Grinch has been successful everywhere he has been prior to his time at Oklahoma. I think he is a great recruiter. UCF needs immediate talent.
Given all the variables, specifically money, I give the hire a B+/A- overall.
