For the second time in his short tenure as a head coach, former Oklahoma head man Lincoln Riley has fired his defensive coordinator at midseason.

That’s according to a report Sunday from Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger and ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Riley has been a head coach since 2017, but in 2018 he had to fire Mike Stoops. After eventually replacing Stoops the following season with Grinch, Riley has now apparently parted ways with Grinch.

In Year 2 under Riley and Grinch, the Trojans rank 119th in the nation in total defense, 118th in rushing defense, 105th in passing defense and 121st in scoring defense.

USC is coming off a 52-42 loss Saturday at home to Washington.

Despite hiring Riley after the 2021 season and having 2022 Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams behind center, the Trojans (7-3) have lost three of their last four.

Grinch has been at the center of the skid as his defense has allowed at least 40 points in four of the last five games. That includes a 50-49 win over Cal two weeks ago.

Grinch, 43, is a native of Grove City, OH. He played collegiately at Division III Mount Union and began his career at Missouri under Gary Pinkel.

Grinch’s bio page has been removed from the USC official athletics website.

He coached at Oklahoma from 2019 to 2021, joining Riley’s staff after a year at Ohio State and three years at Washington State. His salary at USC has been reported as $1.8 million a year, which equals the salary he was paid for his final season at OU. USC also reportedly paid OU a $1.08 million buyout for Riley to hire him.

OU ranked 114th in the nation in total defense in 2018, but Grinch added immediate and impressive improvement, as OU ranked 38th in 2019 and 29th in 2020. But the Sooners slid to 76th in 2021 and struggled to stop the pass, ranking 109th in the country.