Reaction pours in after USC's Matt Entz becomes Fresno State coach
On Wednesday, USC football was dealt a big blow when it was reported linebackers coach Matt Entz was leaving to be the new coach at Fresno State.
Entz came to USC ahead of the 2024 season. Prior to his arrival in Los Angeles, he served as the coach at Football Championship Subdivision powerhouse North Dakota State for five years. During his time there, the Bison won two FCS national championships and played for a third.
In his one season at USC, Entz played a key role in helping to turn around a defense that had struggled mightily the year prior. USC's linebacker group in particular took a major step forward in 2024, with significant improvement from players such as Eric Gentry and Mason Cobb.
Let's take a look at some of the fallout from Entz's departure.
Lincoln Riley speaks
At his signing day press conference on Wednesday, USC coach Lincoln Riley spoke about Entz's departure.
"We're happy for coach Entz," Riley said.
"When you have a really good staff, you got really quality people on your staff, you're gonna have guys that get opportunities to move on."
Eric Gentry's comments
USC linebacker had extremely high praise for Entz following the news.
"Yall don’t even understand the man changed my whole perspective about this shi…" Gentry posted on social media. "A year ago I truly believed football wasn’t gonna work out…that man came with the whole d staff and changed my whole perspective."
Impact on recruiting
Entz's departure was not the only blow that the Trojans suffered Wednesday. On the same morning, four-star linebacker Madden Faraimo chose to sign with Notre Dame over USC.
The Trojans had been widely projected as the leader to land Faraimo. However, with questions suddenly emerging about who would be his position coach at USC, Faraimo instead picked the Irish.
Praise for Entz
Fresno State's hire of Entz drew strong praise from both USC and non-USC circles.
"Had a chance to catch up with coach Entz a couple weeks ago at USC," said former USC quarterback Matt Leinart. "Great dude, great coach. Happy he’s getting this chance but big loss for USC."
"Reports surfacing Matt Entz will indeed be the next head football coach at Fresno State," said Fresno radio host Christopher Gabriel. "Matt won two national titles at North Dakota State (2019, 2021) and has an all-time head coaching record of 60-11. He’s a great defensive mind and an excellent recruiter. The man is a winner. I know a lot of Dogs fans wanted Tim Skipper and after living here 10 years, yeah I get it. But knowing NDSU like I do after covering the Bison for six years and understanding how that system works, he is a fantastic hire."
Coaching staff vacancy
With Entz's departure, USC is in need of a new linebackers coach.
It is way too early to speculate on potential candidates, but this will be a crucial hire for Lincoln Riley as he heads into a make-or-break 2025 season.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Reaction pours in after USC's Matt Entz becomes Fresno State coach
