Ahead of his debut spring as USC’s defensive coordinator, Todd Orlando talked a big game. He was going to rebuild the culture of USC’s defense. He wanted more toughness, more physicality, more accountability. He talked about taking the Trojans to “a dark place.”
Then, after one practice last March, spring was canceled because of the pandemic. The loss of practice time was especially damaging to Orlando and the defense, he admits. When USC finally came back in the fall, that culture change had to be set on fast forward.
“Spring is all culture,” Orlando said.