USC coach Lincoln Riley took his time filling the need for a linebackers coach after Matt Entz left in early December to become the head coach at Fresno State.
Riley made it worth the wait for Trojans fans, as USC announced the hiring of longtime NFL defensive coordinator Rob Ryan as the assistant head coach for defense/linebackers coach.
“Rob Ryan is one of the most accomplished defensive coaches in NFL history,” Riley said in a statement. “With over two decades of NFL experience, he will immediately bolster our staff as we continue our climb here at USC. He has coached some of the NFL’s top players, including numerous Hall of Famers and All-Pro selections. We’re thrilled to welcome Coach Ryan and his family to our program.”
Ryan coached with USC defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn in 2016 on the defensive staff of the Buffalo Bills and in 2021 with the Baltimore Ravens when Ryan was the inside linebackers coach and Lynn the safeties coach.
Lynn has cited Ryan's brother Rex Ryan as an influence on his career as well.
Rob Ryan, meanwhile, hasn't coached in college since he was the defensive coordinator at Oklahoma State from 1997-99.
Since then, he's worked for eight different NFL franchises, including the Raiders twice.
He was the Raiders' defensive coordinator from 2004-08, the Cleveland Browns' DC from 2009-10, the Dallas Cowboys' DC from 2011-12 and the New Orleans Saints' DC from 2013-15. He won two Super Bowls as the linebackers coach for the New England Patriots from 2000-2003. Most recently, he was a senior defensive assistant for the Raiders from 2022-24.
Riley talked last year of not being shy about targeting big names for his USC staff positions, which was proven with the hiring of defensive line coach Eric Henderson away from the Los Angeles Rams and hiring Entz away from a head coaching job at North Dakota State.
In hiring Ryan, USC may well have the most accomplished linebackers coach in college football.
In their time together with the Ravens in 2021, Lynn and Ryan helped Baltimore rank as the No. 1 run defense in the NFL (84.5 yards per game).
Before his long NFL tenure, though, Ryan did get his start in college football, as a graduate assistant at Western Kentucky (1987) and Ohio State (1988), then a variety of roles at Tennessee State (1989-93, as running backs coach, then linebackers coach, then defensive line coach). After his first NFL stint in 1994-95 as defensive backs coach for the Arizona Cardinals, Ryan returned to college as defensive coordinator at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas in 1996 and then his time at Oklahoma State.
He was named Coordinator of the Year by The Sporting News in 1997. In his first season at Oklahoma State, the Cowboys defense finished among the top 20 in turnover margin, rushing defense, scoring defense and total defense, allowing just 302.7 yards per game. It was an over 100-yard improvement per game from the year before. In 1998, the Cowboys were second in the nation in sacks with 41. In 1999, Oklahoma State was ranked 10th in the nation in total defense.
RELATED: See Rob Ryan's full career accolades here
With Lynn, Henderson and Ryan, USC's defense has a major pro-style influence that has been noted as an appeal to recruits, including recent NC State safety transfer Bishop Fitzgerald.
"All that stuff kind of led to my decision to play in a pro-style defense ... being able to play in a pro-style defense, put a lot of stuff on film and get to the next level," Fitzgerald said this week.
Overall, USC made three staff changes this offseason -- replacing departed offensive line coach Josh Henson (now the offensive coordinator at Purdue) by sliding Zach Hanson from tight ends to offensive line, filling that void by hiring Chad Savage from Colorado State as tight ends/inside receivers coach and now bringing in Ryan to replace Entz.
In taking over USC's linebacker group, Ryan will have redshirt senior Eric Gentry as his star pupil, sophomore Desman Stephens II as a promising up-and-comer who got meaningful experience last year and then a young and unproven group behind them that includes redshirt freshmen Elijah Newby and Jadyn Walker, redshirt junior Garrison Madden and incoming four-star freshman Matai Tagoa'i. It's also still possible the Trojans will add a veteran linebacker transfer in the post-spring transfer window.
