There was a common refrain from USC's defensive coaches Thursday after the Trojans' second spring practice -- an honest and obvious one for a unit that gave up more points last season (31.8 per game) than any other team in program history.
"Two days into it it's easy to say we've made progress, but we've got a long, long way to go," defensive coordinator Alex Grinch said.
Inside linebackers coach Brian Odom was even more blunt, meanwhile.
"I've seen some improvements from Day 1 just like you'd like to see. Nowhere near where we need to be, got a long ways to go obviously, and that's coaches' speak and all that," he said. "I'm excited about their intent, but we've got to get so much better it's not even, it's not funny."
The Trojans essentially return only four starters on defense in veteran DE Nick Figueroa, versatile defensive lineman Tuli Tuipulotu, linebacker Ralen Goforth and nose tackle Stanley Ta'ufo'ou, though he'll have to contend with returning sixth-year senior Brandon Pili for that job this year. Also, safety Calen Bullock drew starts at safety, nickel and corner and played a lot of snaps overall last fall while fellow safety Xavion Alford made two starts late in the season.
But with a new staff in place, this is essentially a clean slate, fresh start and new evaluation for the unit.
One which will take some more time before the coaches truly know what they're working with, as the Trojans weren't able to practice in pads the first two sessions per NCAA rules.
"It's still hard to diagnose," Grinch said. "There's some guys that flash in the weight room, there's guys that flash in the winter workout period. You see some speed with some individuals, how a guy like a Tuli for instance, a guy that kind of matches the film. I kind of talk out of both sides of my mouth in terms of fresh start for everybody, but you recognize some of those individuals that have played. So it's nice to see a guy from a weight room standpoint or a workout standout through the first couple days kind of flash in some ways, to highlight that one individual that way.
"But no, strengths and weaknesses, right now I see a whole lot of weaknesses and the strengths gotta come. Like I said, it's not completely dissimilar to other places in terms of the first two days of spring. Certainly, we'll get the pads on Saturday and we'll have a better chance to assess some of that stuff."
Tuipulotu is the most established standout on the Trojans defense with 7.5 sacks, 10 tackles for loss and 70 tackles over 18 career games.
Like with Grinch, defensive line coach Shaun Nua had the most praise for Tuipulotu from his unit.
