After three years of speculation, USC has fired Clay Helton.
Helton’s tenure officially comes to an end with a 46-24 record. Any chance Helton, 49, had to coach himself off the hot seat deteriorated when the Trojans lost to Stanford in embarrassing fashion, 42-28, on Saturday inside the Coliseum in a game that wasn’t as close as the score suggested.
That loss was indicative of the problems that have plagued Helton’s teams over the years: Sloppiness, lack of discipline and lack of urgency.
"As I committed to upon my arrival at USC, during the past two off-seasons we provided every resource necessary for our football program to compete for championships," said USC athletic director Mike Bohn in a statement Monday. "The added resources carried significantly increased expectations for our team's performance, and it is already evident that, despite the enhancements, those expectations would not be met without a change in leadership."
Helton, who has been on USC's staff in various roles since 2010, won a Rose Bowl and a Pac-12 title in his first two full seasons as USC’s head coach, but couldn’t overcome the issues and a 5-7 season in 2018 intensified the hot seat talk that never really dissipated over the next few years.
Associate head coach and corners coach Donte Williams will take over as the interim coach. Williams has never served as a head coach before but will be tasked with salvaging what remains of USC’s season. This is USC’s third consecutive midseason coaching change, following Sarkisian in 2015 and Lane Kiffin in 2013.
(Photo: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
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The good and bad of the Helton Era
Antonio Morales, USC beat writer: The good: Helton won a Rose Bowl and in 2017 he delivered the program its first Pac-12 title in nine years. He brought some stability to a program that had lived through constant coaching turnover with Lane Kiffin, popular interim coach Ed Orgeron and then Steve Sarkisian. And he found Sam Darnold, the defining player of those Rose Bowl and Pac-12 title teams.
The bad: Things quickly unraveled after that Pac-12 title season. USC finished 5-7 the next year and Helton was clearly too loyal to assistants who weren’t performing or simply didn’t recruit. That season put Helton squarely on the hot seat, and as a result the 2020 recruiting class finished 64th nationally, depths never before seen throughout decades of USC’s recruiting. Recruiting temporarily rebounded in the 2021 cycle but has dipped again this year as the region’s best prospects have taken their talents to Oregon, Ohio State, Clemson and Alabama. NFL draft numbers dipped under Helton as well. The lack of talent, at least to USC’s standards, finally caught up to Helton this past season. And when the Trojans played the nation’s elite programs, such as Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, they were run off the field.
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Why did it take USC so long to fire Helton?
Morales: After winning the Pac-12 title, then-USC athletic director Lynn Swann inked Helton to a contract through the 2023 season. It was a move to help provide some stability for recruiting, but as the team’s performance started to dip in the years after, the contact became a burden for USC, which was dealing with several expensive scandals as a university and couldn’t afford to move on from Helton.
According to tax records, Helton earned $4.81 million for the 2019-20 fiscal year. With nearly a $5 million annual salary, it would have cost around $20 million to move on from Helton after the 2019 season. The contract became more manageable this season with only two years remaining. Helton hadn’t done enough to warrant an extension and USC needed to make a decision at some point soon for recruiting.
What could come next for Helton?
Morales: That’s an interesting question. Helton was an offensive coordinator at Memphis before arriving at USC in 2010 and initially served as the Trojans’ quarterbacks coach. He eventually became offensive coordinator, but that was under two offensive-minded head coaches in Kiffin and Sarkisian. He has ties to those two and to Orgeron, so maybe there are some potential connections there.
Helton’s brother, Tyson, is the head coach at Western Kentucky, which seems like a logical landing spot. It’s just difficult to envision another Power 5 program taking a chance on Helton as a head coach. His offseason will be interesting. With two years left on his contract at a nice salary, he doesn't have to coach anywhere anytime soon.
Is there a big-time coach to watch as the Trojans begin their coaching search?
Bruce Feldman, college football insider: Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal is one of several big-name Power 5 coaches who might be a good fit for the Trojans job. He’s won a ton of big recruiting battles, including many in Southern California. His program has landed seven top 100 prospects out of there since 2019. He’s hired a great staff, and now the Ducks are reaping the rewards.
We are making a change in the leadership of our football program. #FightOn pic.twitter.com/xChL8xi0oG
— Mike Bohn (@USC_mikebohn) September 13, 2021
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