Wisconsin found its replacement for safeties coach Colin Hitchler, who recently took over the same position at Alabama.

According to a report from BadgerExtra, UW is set to hire Alex Grinch to coach the position group this spring. BadgerBlitz.com later confirmed that news on Thursday afternoon.

In Grinch, Wisconsin is getting a coach with coordinator experience at four different schools: USC (2022-2023), Oklahoma (2019-2022), Ohio State (CO-DC/2018) and Washington State (2015-2017). He is a four-time nominee for the Broyles Award, given to the nation’s top assistant coach.

Grinch, 43, followed Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma to USC in 2022. But in November, the day after the Trojans' 52-42 loss to Washington in the Coliseum, Grinch was relieved of his duties with two regular season games left on the schedule. The defense allowed 572 yards of offense against the Huskies.

"Thought about it a lot throughout the night. Didn’t sleep much. Thought about it a little bit more Sunday morning, and just felt like it was in the best interest of our program, both for this year – because we still have a lot to play for, we still have a really cool opportunity in front of us – and for the future that we needed to make the change," Riley told reporters at the time. "Just, we simply weren’t making the progress I think that we all expected we would make."

Grinch's other coaching jobs were at Missouri (2002-2004), New Hampshire (2005-2008), Wyoming (2009-2011) and a return stop with the Tigers (2012-2014). He played safety at Mount Union College from 1998 to 2001.

Grinch will take over an experienced unit this spring. Hunter Wohler announced he will be back for a fourth season at Wisconsin, which should give the Badgers four proven safeties in 2024: Wohler, Preston Zachman, Kamo'i Latu and Austin Brown. True freshman Braedyn Moore has also traveled this fall and should be in line for reps this spring.

On the recruiting front, the Badgers already have commitments from projected safeties Cody Haddad and Jaimier Scott in the 2025 class. Grinch should be in place for UW's second junior day on Feb. 3, with top safety target Jussiah Williams on the guest list.

Grinch's recruiting resume includes a good amount of success in California, Texas and Georgia, three of the most fertile states in the country.

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