Todd Orlando is about to get his second job since losing his gig at Texas.
Let go after three years as the defensive coordinator at Texas last month, Wells was hired earlier this month to be Texas Tech’s assistant head coach and linebackers. The move was a demotion in stature and pay (Keith Patterson remained on as Tech’s defensive coordinator), but it reunited Orlando with Matt Wells, for whom Orlando worked as Wells’ defensive coordinator at Utah State from 2013-14.
“My family and I are excited to rejoin Coach Wells,” Orlando said. “We’ve won a bunch of games together in the past, and we plan to do the same here at Texas Tech. I’m looking forward to meeting the staff and players and then finishing up on the recruiting trail for the 2020 class.”
Now, Orlando is about to say to hell with all that and take a defensive coordinator gig after all.
According to reports Monday from Yahoo and ESPN, Orlando is set to become the defensive coordinator at USC.
Orlando would replace Clancy Pendergast, who actually posted better numbers in 2019 than Orlando did at Texas. The Trojans tied for 70th nationally in yards per play (5.70), while Texas checked at 98th at 6.11. Texas was better than USC against the run, but the Trojans clocked in at No. 64 in pass efficiency defense while Texas was 90th.
Obviously, there’s more to Orlando than his 2019 numbers, but the USC fans already checked out on Clay Helton (which is to say, just about all of them) won’t be won over by hiring a guy that Texas fired.