​The 2026 USC football season contains numerous plot points. One is the fact that Rob Ryan is no longer linebacker coach. Mike Ekeler replaced him. It will be fascinating to see how USC’s linebackers perform this year. They weren’t very good last season, but one point of debate surrounding the linebackers was how much responsibility they had for the defense’s overall failures.One reasonable point made by a lot of USC football fans last year was that the poor showing by the defensive line put the linebackers in impossible situations. That’s a fair argument, but even if the defensive line failed to help the linebackers, it’s not as though the linebackers did the best they could. They often seemed to be out of alignment and unable to finish tackles. Oregon roasted the USC linebackers last season. This year, USC faces not just Oregon, but Indiana and Ohio State. The unit will be challenged, and the coaching has to be up to standard.Where this discussion gets interesting: Does USC need Mike Ekeler to be a tremendous linebacker coach? It would obviously help a lot of he is, but maybe this is merely about being better than Rob Ryan and not messing things up. Translated: Was Rob Ryan so awful that Ekeler just has to show replacement-level quality, or does Ekeler need to knock it out of the park? We will soon find out. Contact/Follow @TrojansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of USC Trojans news, notes and opinion.This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Mike Ekeler must improve USC linebackers compared to Rob Ryan