Lincoln Riley elevates ex-NFL safety to defensive staff

USC football head coach Lincoln Riley turned to Gary Patterson to rearrange the defensive room. Now Riley is elevating past NFL representation with his next staff move AJ Howard.

Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reported the promotion on Thursday night. Howard is familiar with the Land of Troy, though.

“The ex-NFL safety joined USC as an assistant LB coach last year after serving as outside linebackers coach at Appalachian State and as an NFL scout with the New England Patriots,” Zenitz posted on the social media website X, formerly Twitter. “Now expected to be promoted.”

Howard won’t be the only coaching promotion via Riley here.

USC promoting former Sean McVay assistant

The Trojans lost one past Los Angeles Rams assistant in Eric Henderson. Yet his replacement has similar ties to Sean McVay and the franchise.

Skyler Jones is the defensive tackles coach at USC, Zenitz shared back on Tuesday. Jones worked alongside “Hendo” and McVay back in 2022 in helping coach up Aaron Donald. Jones also had previous stints with Norfolk State (2021), plus was a defensive analyst at Oregon in 2023. He’s entering season three under Riley but is shedding the defensive analyst tag.

Riley is undergoing a massive defensive overhaul outside of landing the ex-TCU head coach Patterson. Paul Gonzalez left Baylor for USC back on Jan. 27. Gonzalez shares Horned Frogs ties with Patterson before serving as passing defense coordinator and cornerbacks coach for the Bears.

Patterson arrives after D’Anton Lynn parted ways with USC to take the DC job at his alma mater Penn State. Now the staff is undergoing promotions and rearrangement.

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