On the afternoon that Donte Williams confirmed his departure from USC, Lincoln Riley already has moved swiftly to tab Williams's replaement.
Several sources tell FootballScoop that Doug Belk, most recently the Houston Cougars' defensive coordinator, is heading West to join Riley's Trojans's staff.
USC slumped to an 7-5 season this year, and Belk was part of the Houston staff of Dana Holgorsen that was not retained.
But Belk had plenty of options; sources with direct knowledge told FootballScoop that Belk also had spoken to the University of Georgia about the vacancy left by Fran Brown's exit to take over at Syracuse.
Similarly, Belk had been mentioned in connection at Florida, sources said.
Belk was a graduate assistant at Alabama under both Nick Saban and Kirby Smart; the 36-year-old already has coordinated or co-coordinated defenses for five seasons in addition to a stint coaching cornerbacks at West Virginia.
Matt Zenitz of 247Sports first shared the news of Belk's hiring.