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Alex Grinch

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Alex Grinch
Current position
TitleDefensive coordinator
TeamUCF
ConferenceBig 12
Biographical details
Born (1980-05-29) May 29, 1980 (age 44)
Grove City, Ohio, U.S.
Playing career
1998–2001Mount Union
Position(s)Strong safety[1]
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2002–2004Missouri (GA)[2]
2005–2006New Hampshire (CB)
2007–2008New Hampshire (DB/RC)
2009–2011Wyoming (DB/RC)
2012–2014Missouri (S)
2015–2017Washington State (DC/DB/S)
2018Ohio State (co-DC/S)
2019–2021Oklahoma (DC/S)
2022–2023USC (DC/S)
2024Wisconsin (co-DC/S)
2025–presentUCF (DC)

Alexander Gregory Grinch (born May 29, 1980) is an American college football coach. He is the defensive coordinator for the UCF Knights. He previously served as the defensive coordinator at Wisconsin, USC, Oklahoma, Ohio State and Washington State. Grinch also coached the secondary at Missouri, New Hampshire and Wyoming. Grinch is a four-time nominee for the Broyles Award and was a semifinalist in 2017 and 2019.[3]

Playing career

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Grinch played defensive back at Mount Union College from 1998 to 2001.[4] During that time, Mount Union amassed a record of 54–1 and won three NCAA Division III Football Championships. Grinch graduated from Mount Union in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in sport management.[5]

Coaching career

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Missouri

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From 2002 to 2004, Grinch was a graduate assistant under Gary Pinkel at the University of Missouri, and he completed his master's degree in educational leadership and policy analysis at Missouri in 2004.[5]

New Hampshire

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Grinch's first regular assistant coaching job was at Division I-AA New Hampshire under Sean McDonnell. In 2005 and 2006, Grinch was the cornerbacks coach.[5] After a promotion, Grinch became the recruiting coordinator and coached the entire defensive secondary in 2007 and 2008. Chip Kelly was the OC at New Hampshire and Grinch learned the value of practicing fast from competing against him every day.[6]

Wyoming

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Grinch spent three seasons at Wyoming as the recruiting coordinator and coaching the secondary. He coached cornerback Marqueston Huff who was drafted into 4th round of NFL and Tashaun Gipson would become a future NFL Pro Bowl safety.[6]

Missouri (second stint)

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Again working under Pinkel, Grinch coached the secondary and safeties at Missouri from 2012 to 2014. In 2013, they finished 11–1 season and their first-ever SEC Eastern Division title. However, they lost to Auburn in the SEC Championship Game. Missouri would go onto winning the 2014 Cotton Bowl Classic against Oklahoma State. In 2014, they clinched another SEC Division title but would lose to Alabama in the 2014 SEC Championship Game. E. J. Gaines would later go onto getting drafted in 2014 NFL Draft.[7]

Washington State

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From 2015 to 2017, Grinch was the defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Washington State under Mike Leach[8] Hercules Mata'afa was named Consensus All-American (2017) and the Pac-12 Defensive Player of The Year (2017). He coached several NFL players including: Jalen Thompson, Daniel Ekuale, Frankie Luvu, Hercules Mata'afa, Destiny Vaeao, Xavier Cooper, and Shalom Luani [7].

Ohio State

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In January 2018, Grinch joined Urban Meyer's staff at Ohio State as co-defensive coordinator. The Buckeyes won the Big Ten and Rose Bowl that season. Three Buckeyes were NFL Draft picks during his tenure: Nick Bosa (2nd overall pick), Dre'Mont Jones (third round), and Kendall Sheffield (fourth round).[9]

Oklahoma

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In January 2019, Grinch joined Lincoln Riley's staff at Oklahoma as defensive coordinator.[10] He spent three years with the Sooners and was able to help turnaround defense that finished 101st in scoring defense and 130th in passing defense, under former defensive coordinator Mike Stoops, who would be fired after giving up 48 points to rival Texas. In 2019, their defense allowed the fewest yards per game, ranking 20th. Oklahoma won the Big 12 championship and advanced to the College Football Playoff semifinals in the Peach Bowl.

USC

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In November 2021, Grinch followed Riley after he was hired to be the next head coach at USC, serving in the same capacity as before.[11] At USC he inherited a Trojan defensive roster that in 2021 finished as one of the worst units statistically in program history, ranking 103rd in scoring defense and well below average in all other categories.[12] In his first year at USC, in 2022, the Trojans had the nation's best turnover margin. This marked a huge improvement over 2021, when the Trojans were ranked 74th in the country in the same category.  The Trojans focused extensively on turnovers, ranking third in the country with interceptions from a dozen different players. Tuli Tuipulotu was named the Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year and unanimous All-American in 2022. They finished the season 11–3, losing to Utah in the Pac-12 championship game, eliminating them from national championship playoff consideration. Mekhi Blackmon was named All-America and drafted in the 3rd round of 2023 NFL draft.

After a promising start with USC, the 2023 Trojan defense would later allow 293 points over the next seven game stretch and fell to 7–3. Of these seven games, opponents scored over 41 points five times. On November 5, 2023, Grinch was fired as USC's defensive coordinator.[13]He coached several NFL players at his time at USC which included: Calen Bullock, Mekhi Blackmon, Solomon Byrd, Ralen Goforth, Shane Lee, Brandon Pili, Tuli Tuipulotu and Christian Roland-Wallace[14]

Wisconsin

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In February 2024, Grinch joined Luke Fickell's staff at Wisconsin as co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach. The secondary thrived and ranked #14th in country of passing yards allowed.[15]

UCF

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In December 2024, Grinch was announced as UCF's defensive coordinator following the hire of Scott Frost.[16]

Personal life

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Grinch grew up in Grove City, Ohio and graduated from Grove City High School.[17] In 2003, he married Rebecca Blaser. They have two children.[7] He is the nephew of longtime Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel, under whom Grinch worked as a graduate assistant and safeties coach.[17]

References

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  1. ^ "Mount Union College Football". Archived from the original on January 15, 2002. Retrieved January 15, 2002.
  2. ^ Loh, Stephanie (August 26, 2015). "First-time defensive coordinator Alex Grinch seeking higher standard from WSU". The Seattle Times. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  3. ^ "Grinch Named Broyles Award Semifinalist". University of Oklahoma. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  4. ^ "Alex Grinch Joins Ohio State Coaching Staff". Ohio State Buckeyes. January 8, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c "Official Site of UNH Athletics - Football". Archived from the original on August 6, 2006. Retrieved August 6, 2006.
  6. ^ a b "WYOMING OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE – Football". March 23, 2009. Archived from the original on March 23, 2009.
  7. ^ a b c "Alex Grinch". OhioStateBuckeyes.com. Ohio State University. Archived from the original on December 14, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  8. ^ Sandritter, Mark (January 14, 2015). "Everything we know about WSU's new DC Alex Grinch". CougCenter.
  9. ^ "Alex Grinch Joining Ohio State Staff, Already Listed in OSU Directory". The-Ozone. January 5, 2018. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  10. ^ Barnett, Zach. "Oklahoma hires Alex Grinch as defensive coordinator". Footballscoop. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  11. ^ Engelbrecht, Chandler (November 28, 2021). "OU football: Sooners defensive coordinator Alex Grinch to join Lincoln Riley at USC, per ESPN". OU Daily. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
  12. ^ "Can the USC defense make the 2021 season a distant memory?". Orange County Register. August 30, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  13. ^ Beachem, Greg (November 5, 2023). "USC fires defensive coordinator Alex Grinch with 2 games left in regular season". Associated Press. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
  14. ^ "USC Trojans 2023 Regular Season NCAAF Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
  15. ^ "Badgers add Alex Grinch to defensive staff". Uwbadgers.com. February 1, 2024. Retrieved February 3, 2024.
  16. ^ "Report: Alex Grinch to Join UCF as Defensive Coordinator". 247Sports. Retrieved December 17, 2024.
  17. ^ a b Rabinowitz, Bill (January 13, 2018). "Alex Grinch makes presence felt as defensive coach". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
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