Despite never having been on campus, Top247 edge rusher Noah Carter boarded his flight to Alabama over the weekend with a sense of familiarity. After all, there would be several recognizable faces when the talented defender from Peoria (Ariz.) Centennial arrived in Tuscaloosa.
It hadn’t been long since former Washington coach Kalen DeBoer took the helm and Carter, who was released from his national letter of intent with the Huskies ahead of the official visit, was excited to know he had become a priority for the new staff. Carter got to campus and curiosity quickly turned into awe.
Wisconsin is hiring former USC and Oklahoma defensive coordinator Alex Grinch as safeties coach, Matt Zenitz reports. Grinch followed Lincoln Riley to Los Angeles in 2022, but lasted less than two seasons at USC and was fired after the Trojans’ 52-42 loss to Washington on Nov. 4. Grinch replaces Colin Hitschler, who recently took the same position at Alabama.
Grinch, who played strong safety during his college days at Mount Union, has plenty of experience coaching his former position. He coached defensive backs at New Hampshire (2005-08) and Wyoming (2009-11), where he groomed two of his safeties, Chris Prosinski and Tashaun Gipson, into future NFL players. He spent the next two seasons as the safeties coach at Missouri (2012-14)
Grinch started his career as a defensive coordinator with Washington State in 2015, also coaching defensive backs until he left the program in 2017 for the co-DC job at Ohio State. He coached safeties, on top of his DC duties, during his stints with the Buckeyes (2018), Oklahoma (2019-21) and USC (2022-23). Five Sooners were NFL Draft picks during Grinch’s tenure, and he oversaw Trojans defensive back Calen Bullock, who nabbed five interceptions and was awarded first-team All-America honors in 2022
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