Lincoln Riley said last week he wanted to assemble the best defensive coaching staff possible -- no matter where those coaches were presently working.
He showed just how serious he was Saturday in announcing the hiring of North Dakota State head coach Matt Entz as assistant head coach for defense/linebackers coach.
The status of Brian Odom, USC's inside linebackers coach for the last two years, was not addressed in the Trojans' news release.
"Having a championship-caliber staff is instrumental to the success of our team," Lincoln Riley said in a statement. "By welcoming Matt Entz, a championship-winning head coach and outstanding defensive mind, we are bolstering our defensive staff. He is going to be an excellent addition to the USC football program."
Entz posted a 60-10 overall record in his 5 years (2019-23) as the head coach at North Dakota State for an .857 winning percentage. He led the Bison -- one of the perennial powers at the FCS level -- to two FCS national championships, including in his first season as the head coach.
Entz was named the FCS National Coach of the Year in 2019 and 2021 by the American Football Coaches Association. Entz became the first Division I head football coach to go 16-0 in his first full season at the helm, defeating James Madison 28-20 to win the 2019 Division I FCS national Championship. The 2019 Bison became the first modern-era college football team in any division to finish a season 16-0, joining the 1894 Yale Bulldogs as the only 16-0 teams in college football history.
It's an especially impressive hire for USC given that Entz's immediate predecessors at NDSU both left that head coaching post for head coaching jobs at the FBS level -- Craig Bohl to Wyoming and Chris Klieman to Kansas State.
Prior to succeeding Klieman, Entz was NDSU's defensive coordinator for five seasons (2014-18). He was named the 2018 FCS Coordinator of the Year and was a finalist for the award thre times. He led a Bison defense that allowed less than 14 points per game over his 5 seasons as the defensive coordinator and consistently ranked in the top 5 of FCS in scoring defense and total defense.
Prior to arriving at NDSU, Entz served as the associate head coach, co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at Western Illinois in 2013. Under his tutelage, LB Kevin Kintzel still holds the program's all-time defensive scoring record with 18 INTs and 3 defensive TDs. The Leathernecks led the MVFC in passing defense (149.0) and opponent first downs (16.2).
Entz spent the previous 3 years (2010-12) at Northern Iowa. He was named defensive line coach in 2010 and assumed defensive coordinator duties in 2012. UNI placed first in the MVFC in 2010 and 2011. In 2011, DL Ben Boothby earned AP and AFCA FCS All-American First Team honors and was also a two-time All-MVFC First Team honoree (2010 and 2011).
Entz was the defensive coordinator from 2002 to 2009 at Winona State, where he was promoted to associate head coach in 2003 and was with the defensive line for 3 years before becoming linebackers coach in 2005. He was named the AFCA Division II Assistant Coach of the Year in 2008.
Prior to that, Entz was the assistant head football coach and linebackers coach at Wayne (Neb.) State from 1999 to 2001 and the defensive coordinator at Illinois College in 1998. He holds certification from the National Strength and Conditioning Association and served as an assistant strength and conditioning coach during his time at Wayne State.
Here's what Riley said last Monday about plans for the defensive staff after hiring new defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn away from UCLA.
"I think there’s one goal in mind here and that’s kind of our north star right now, that’s the thing we’re staying focused on is building the best defensive staff in America here," Riley said. "For me, I'm not getting too caught up into is it somebody that’s here now, is it somebody that’s not here now -- it’s just to me, what is the best and answering that simple question.
"Wherever the best is, whether it’s somebody here or somebody outside of the program, that’s what we’re going to do, that’s what we’re going to build, that process, along with a lot of other things right now is certainly ongoing in conversations and decisions that will be made here in the upcoming future, but I don’t have anything new to report other than that is our sole mission and that's what we’re going to stay focused on and that’s what we’re going to do."
