What has been known since Monday became official Friday as USC formally announced the hiring of defensive coordinator Todd Orlando.
Orlando's hiring comes more than three weeks after the Trojans parted ways with former defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast, following another lackluster season on that side of the ball.
Orlando spent the last three seasons as the DC at Texas, before briefly taking a job as assistant head coach/linebackers coach at Texas Tech after being let go by the Longhorns. He has also been a coordinator at four other schools with stints at Connecticut (2005-10), Florida International (2011-12), Utah State (2013-14), Houston (2015-16) before following head coach Tom Herman from Houston to Texas.
“We are excited to have Todd join our Trojan football program,” USC coach Clay Helton said in a statement. “He is an experienced and successful defensive coordinator who has made an impact everywhere he has coached. He brings a passion, energy, toughness and discipline to his coaching and those characteristics were evident in our discussions. His defensive system poses an extreme challenge to offenses.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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"When you're looking at a job, the No. 1 thing is who you're working for," Orlando said in a video posted by USC on Twitter. "[I had] an opportunity to be with coach Helton multiple days, and we believe in the same thing actually [and] going through football early in our career virtually the same way too. The second part is, can you win a championship? And there's no doubt in my mind that we will get that done. And then the third thing is whether or not you can sustain it through recruiting, and when you look at the great state of California and look at Los Angeles itself, just the talent that's in this area, we'll be able to sustain championships."
The end of Orlando's Longhorns tenure was not as strong as the beginning, as Texas finished 97th in total defense this fall (431.5 yards per game allowed) and 65th in scoring defense (27.5 points per game), but the well-traveled DC has produced strong defenses enough over his career to warrant real optimism.
He's led four top-20 defenses over his career. His 2005 Connecticut unit -- his first year as a coordinator -- ranked 6th nationally in total defense (297.2 YPG), his 2008 UConn defense also ranked 6th (278.0), his 2013 Utah State defense ranked 12th (330.9) and his 2016 Houston defense ranked 13th (319.6).
But that doesn't tell the whole story.
In his first season at Texas, the Longhorns improved from 94th to 41st in total defense (365.6 YPG), and from 89thth to 29th in scoring defense (21.2 PPG). Surely he merits culpability for the decline of that unit the next two seasons, but there are also clearly some larger issues within the program as Herman fired both of his coordinators this offseason.
Orlando traditionally operates out of a 3-4 base scheme with quarters coverage in the secondary, putting an emphasis on stopping the run, blitzing aggressively and being opportunistic with turnovers. In four of the last sevens, his units have ranked top-10 nationally in rush defense, and in three of the last four seasons his defenses ranked top-20 nationally in turnovers created. The downside is his units often struggle against the pass.
"We're going to be multiple, we're going to be aggressive, we're going to attack people," Orlando said. "I really believe that in today's game, creating negative yardage plays, attacking the quarterback, turnovers, all those things go into creating explosive plays on defense. So it's going to be exciting. We'll see how much we can handle going into spring football, but expect us to do really two things -- run and hit. Run and hit and be explosive and be aggressive. ...
"[Practice] is going to be physical. There's no way around it. You can't practice soft and play hard. I'm a true believer of that. So tackling, taking on blocks, defeating blocks, they're all part of the game -- the core fundamental of playing football. So that's the stuff we're going to do. We're not going to talk about it, we're not going to sit there on Saturdays and try to get things corrected. We're going to do it all the time until we master it."
All things considered, though, this is about as good of a defensive coordinator hire as USC fans could have expected.
As long as head coach Clay Helton's long-term status remains an annual source of speculation, the Trojans were at a disadvantage trying to lure away any established coordinators. The best bet was pursuing a coach who was available and in need of such an opportunity, as with Orlando.
As much as anything, USC simply needed fresh leadership on defense. Pendergast's defense had declined each of the last several years. The Trojans' 408.5 yards per game allowed this season ranked tied for 77th, but more to the point it was the most yards ever given up by a USC defense. The Trojans' 29.4 points per game allowed is the second-worst ever for the program, behind only the 2000 season when they gave up 30.6 points per game.
In fact, the last three seasons -- 27.0 in 2018 and 26.1 in 2017 -- are three of the five worst defensive seasons in program history in terms of points allowed.
Orlando's track record at least provides hope that he can make an immediate impact in the way he did upon arriving at Texas.
"I'm excited to be able to work with guys that have played the game before. Sometimes when you come into situations, you might have some youth. And especially when you change systems, it can be a little bit difficult, but I've been really, really impressed," Orlando said. "I had a chance to see the guys work out, excited to have a chance to work with them, excited for them to get through my office so we can sit down and talk about things that are outside of football, embrace each other and get to work."
