At his first-ever press conference as the new head coach at the University of South Florida Alex Golesh made a big point out of the fact that he had his defensive coordinator “he is ready to roll with us.” That man is Todd Orlando according to Pete Thamel of ESPN who was first to report the news.
“Defensively, we’re going to be the most aggressive group in the country. I’m sure it’ll come out later today – hired the best defensive coordinator in the country that I couldn’t get a couple of times, told me Saturday night he’s rolling with me,” Golesh said.
A native of Pittsburgh the 51-year-old Orlando this season worked for former USF head coach Willie Taggart at Florida Atlantic, prior to that he was the defensive coordinator at Houston, the University of Texas, the University of Southern California, and Utah State. He is known for his athletic, aggressive defenses that produce turnovers.
His resume is impressive in his three years as the University of Texas’ defensive coordinator in 2019, a position he began in 2017 his defense forced 65 turnovers among the best in the Big 12. In 2020 at USC, the Trojans defense improved dramatically from the previous year, allowing 369.7 total yards (to 408.7 in 2019), including just 216.3 passing (to 246.2 in 2019)
The Trojans had 16 takeaways in the shortened 6-game 2020 season after getting 16 in 13 games in 2019
Safety Talanoa Hufanga was a consensus All-American first teamer and the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year under Orlando’s guidance. It is easy to see why Golesh wanted Orlando and his defense is as aggressive as his new boss’ expects his offense will be.
