Lincoln Riley didn’t waste much time to find D’Anton Lynn’s replacement at USC. The former DC went to his alma mater, and, in turn, the Trojans got a HoFer to call their defense next season. It wasn’t always a smooth ride under Lynn. Although the defense improved in key metrics, the failure to stop the run proved fatal for USC’s playoff hopes. Gary Patterson has taken on the challenge to the extent that he has put himself in isolation to prep for the 2026 season.

It reminded USC alum Zach Banner of Ed Orgeron’s rituals.

On February 17, USC insider Arrogant Nation hopped onto X and expressed surprise at the legendary head coach’s love for the game. Gary Patterson has officially moved into the USC Hotel, essentially turning his new job into a 24/7 football residency. By living right across the street from the practice facility, he’s skipping the brutal LA traffic and spending every possible second in the film room.

Within a few hours, USC alum retweeted with Ed Orgeron Jinx: “Coach O did this, for his last two years at least, at USC…”

This “living at the office” ritual is a total throwback to a ritual started by the legendary Coach O. According to the Los Angeles Times, Coach O lived in Room 112 of the Radisson Hotel (Now USC Hotel) for years during his second stint at USC (2010–2013) to stay completely focused on football while his family was back in Louisiana.

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Unfortunately, it did not pay dividends for the former LSU head coach at first. In his second-to-last season, the USC Trojans went 7-6. However, things started to fall into place in his final season after Lane Kiffin got fired mid-season. Coach O took over as the interim head coach and led the Trojans to a 6–2 record, including an iconic upset over No. 5 Stanford.

Patterson is following that same ‘all-in’ blueprint, trading a fancy house for a hotel room just to stay close to the team. Patterson’s daily schedule is as hectic as it gets. He’s reportedly waking up, hitting the office around 5:30 AM, and not heading back to his hotel room until 9:00 PM or later. That’s a 16+ hour shift. He calls it a 24-hour job, 7 days a week, and says he moved to LA to give his 110% to the players.

Even his wife, Kelsey, is in on the joke, famously saying she married him “for better or worse, but not for lunch.” While she handles the actual house hunting in Los Angeles, Patterson is busy in the film room or on the practice field, implementing his famous 4-2-5 defensive scheme to help USC make their first-ever playoff appearance under Lincoln Riley’s regime.

However, the real question is, can he make it work or blow it like Ed Orgeron’s 2012 season?

Will Garry Patterson’s gamble pay off or not

The reason this sacrifice is probably to pay off is the incredible amount of Hall of Fame experience he brings to the table. He has finished No. 1 in defense five different times (2000, 2002, 2008, 2009, and 2010). His best of these was 2010, when his unit led the country in scoring defense, allowing only about 12.0 points per game.

Plus, Patterson has a certified track record of transforming defenses overnight. When he served as a special assistant at Texas in 2022, the Longhorns’ scoring defense improved from 99th to 29th in the nation in just one season.

With USC currently holding a No. 1-ranked recruiting class for 2026, it’s clear that Patterson’s “110% effort” is resonating with the next generation of Trojans. Based on his track record and whatever he did down at TCU, there’s no reason he shouldn’t turn the USC Trojans into a playoff-caliber team. If he does, that’s one heck of a story to tell.