Since D'Anton Lynn was hired as USC defensive coordinator at the start of the month, it has remained an ongoing intrigue what changes he and head coach Lincoln Riley would make to the defensive staff.
The first domino to tumble was the announcement last week that USC had hired North Dakota State head coach Matt Entz to serve as linebackers coach, replacing Brian Odom (although Odom's departure was not acknowledged in the announcement).
And on Saturday, another piece to the puzzle came into focus as defensive backs coach Donte Williams announced in a tweet his departure from the program after four seasons. It was subsequently announced by USC that it had hired former Houston defensive coordinator Doug Belk to replace Williams, while Williams announced his own more to Georgia soon thereafter.
Williams joined the staff in 2020, at one point held the title of associate head coach and then served as USC's interim head coach for 10 games (3-7 record) after Clay Helton was fired early in the 2021 season. Williams was the only assistant coach retained when Riley took over and rebuilt the staff.
In announcing his departure -- it's not clear if it was his choice, Riley/Lynn's or mutual -- Williams thanked both Helton and Riley as well as the USC administrators he worked under the last four years.
Williams was highly-regarded as a recruiter, especially in the Southern California area, and when the Trojans hired him away from Oregon it was considered a coup of sorts. He helped USC land five-star local prospects in CB Domani Jackson and DE Korey Foreman, along with a slew of other highly-rated defensive backs.
It will be interesting to see if Williams' departure leads to any of the players he recruited considering the transfer portal or how it impacts USC's current crops of 2024 commits, which includes local four-star CBs Isaiah Rubin and Marcelles Williams, three-star S Marquis Gallegos, four-star CB Braylon Conley from Texas and four-star S Jarvis Boatwright from Florida.
Williams had gone on an in-home visit to see Conley earlier this month, but Riley also took a subsequent visit to the Texas prospect as well.
Belk was a graduate assistant at Alabama from 2014-16, then the cornerbacks coach at West Virginia from 2017-18, the co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach at Houston in 2019-20 and the defensive coordinator/safeties coach the last three seasons. Belk was named a semifinalist for the prestigious Broyles Award -- recognizing the top assistant coach in college football -- in 2021.
Houston's defense s ranked 6th nationally in 2021 (302.2 YPG allowed) but then 105th last year (421.6) and 115th this year (423.9).
