USC’s new-look defense is predicated on inter-positional versatility

01.08.2024 05:09

DailyNews.com

USC safety Bryson Shaw poses for photos during the Trojans’ preseason media day on Wednesday at Heritage Hall. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

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USC safety Bryson Shaw poses for photos during the Trojans’ preseason media day on Wednesday at Heritage Hall. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

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LOS ANGELES — Bryson Shaw’s lake-blue eyes darted around the interior of the lounge inside Heritage Hall, touching for split seconds on individual peers within USC’s secondary, engrossed in similar conversations at spaced-out black tables.

“I think everybody in this room is worthy of starting,” Shaw said. “I really do. I wouldn’t just say that.”

Now, of course, he didn’t quite mean everybody. This was USC’s 2024 media day, after all, and a majority of the folks milling about in the room were journalists who would likely incur lifelong medical bills trying to cover a Power Five conference wide receiver. But nine other Trojans defensive backs sat nearby, and Shaw gestured at a couple of them, a group that has gone from fatal weakness to the roster’s strong point in the matter of an offseason. There was sophomore Christian Pierce, who Shaw called one of the hardest-hitting safeties he’d ever seen. There was redshirt sophomore safety Zion Branch, whose only barrier to a breakout in 2023 was injuries. There were seven others fighting for a job, and a handful more not even inside the room, freshmen or upperclassmen who had already spoken plenty to reporters.

“I mean, I can go on and on,” Shaw said. “I think, top-to-bottom, literally everybody can play.”

And everybody, mostly, can play everywhere. Everybody, in USC’s new-look defensive system, is simply “a defensive back,” as Shaw put it. There are cornerbacks on the roster, sure, and there are safeties, but new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn and a host of new assistants spent the summer months challenging players to learn USC’s defense, regardless of position. If you were a defensive tackle, you pushed yourself to learn the entire front. If you were a cornerback, you pushed yourself to learn the nickel.

The exact intricacies of Lynn’s scheme – and its efficacies – have yet to reveal themselves, significant hopes being placed on a revival after the 116th-ranked doldrums of 2023. But coaches and players alike made clear at USC’s season-opening media day on Wednesday that this defense, in large part, will be founded upon versatility, on a host of athletes interchanging between different spots in different packages on both the front line and the back-end.

“You gotta know everything,” Shaw said. “So it’s really exciting.”

The pot of this concoction began to simmer in February, with drawn-out shop talk among USC’s newly hired staff, from defensive line coach Eric Henderson to secondary coach Doug Belk to linebackers coach Matt Entz. Lynn presented the core philosophy of a defense he had installed in his one season at UCLA, taking the Bruins from one of the worst units in the country to one of the best. Then he welcomed input.

“I want this to be everyone’s scheme,” Lynn said, “not just mine.”

There’s a pinch of Henderson here, who grew into one of the most respected position coaches in the NFL in his time with the Rams. There’s a sprinkle of Entz there, coming from an FCS dynasty in North Dakota State. There’s a helping of Belk, too, bringing over defensive coordinator experience at Houston. But there’s a shared vision of a fundamental defense that plays fast, free, and has the intelligence and flexible personnel to counter offensive looks on the fly.

The versatility begins up front, where Henderson brings an NFL background seeing the game evolve beyond one-position players on the defensive line. Junior defensive end Anthony Lucas has put on 10 pounds since last season, and he will likely see some looks on the interior. Vanderbilt transfer Nate Clifton has officially shifted inside to defensive tackle. Players will play multiple positions, Henderson emphasized Wednesday, a concept he believes in.

“This defense that we’re going to utilize is going to position a lot of these guys to be top draft picks, or have the opportunity to position themselves to get drafted,” Henderson said. “And it’s going to highlight their skillset, and that’s all. I just don’t want these guys to have a small-mind mindset.”

At linebacker, returning Mason Cobb will likely fill more of a weakside role after playing last season primarily as a mike, duties set to fall upon Oregon State transfer Easton Mascarenas-Arnold. In the secondary, reigning Holiday Bowl Defensive MVP Jaylin Smith might cover the gamut during fall camp – cornerback, nickel, dime, safety – before coaches officially decide on a primary position, Lynn said. Fourth-year safety Anthony Beavers Jr., meanwhile, has been moving between safety, linebacker and nickel. Wild cards abound.

“That just keeps other people on their toes,” Beavers Jr. said. “Because you never know where somebody could line up, and that helps us be more interchangeable and show different looks.”

“I definitely think it can elevate the ceiling, just everybody being pushed,” he added later.

It was “a little unique,” as Shaw admitted. But the group, he emphasized, was loving it. And a host of returners and new transfer faces alike – drawn, like former Florida State corner Greedy Vance Jr., to Lynn’s NFL pedigree – have monumental expectations for USC’s defensive unit come 2024.

“We have the potential,” Mascarenas-Arnold said, “to be one of the best.”

USC’s new-look defense is predicated on inter-positional versatility

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