Sunday Night With Helton

HELTON.UCLA.SIDELINEClay Helton said tonight that offensive guard Damien Mama did not start against UCLA because of a team rules violation. Chris Brown started in his place but Mama also played. Center Khaliel Rodgers, who suffered a high-ankle sprain, is questionable for the Stanford game.

Helton on reaching the Pac-12 championship game: “It’s something we can’t be satisfied with as a team.”

Helton on if he wants to be a head coach at USC or somewhere else next year: “My goal is to beat Stanford. I’ve got blinders on for Stanford. I want to be the head coach at USC as long as possible.”

20 thoughts on “Sunday Night With Helton

  1. Clay Helton grows on me as a coach. He certainly is a good coach. Is he the best man for the job? If yes, then hire him? But PH, after the debacle with Sark simply because he set his mind on Sark without really going out and really looking for an outstanding coach, owes it to the USC fans to reach out to some great coaches and at least see how they react. This is SC. They may be interested. Even Chris Peterson said when he went to the two interviews for the SC job, it soon became apparent to him that the interviews were just a formality and, in fact, PH had already decided on Sark. We can’t afford to make another mistake.

  2. This teams personality has gone through a big change the
    Last seven games.One thing for certain Clay has them believing
    In themselves .Helton is his own man,his own coach.He has this
    Team unified and focused to play Stanford.As much as we talk
    about who the next coach should be,it’s pretty clear who the team
    Is behind.Coach O brought out the emotion in the team,but wasn’t coaching them up.Helton is creating a personality,returning the pride to Trojan football,at the same time making them a better team.A win ,a Rose Bowl berth, Helton should be our guy.

    • Realistically, I don’t see Helton being let go after beating Stanford this coming Saturday. I have been personally wanting SC to hire a big name coach, preferably with first rate NFL track record, such as winning Super Bowl, but if Helton leads the team to Rose Bowl overcoming all the turmoil, anyone in the right mind would be shocked to see him just be thanked and shown the door. It might not turn out to be the most desirable hire in the future, but it’s undenialbly the reality of the situation.

      • Completely agree.More than a few writers were surprised by how much the players wanted the win for Helton. It surprised the media, and I believe the alumni to some extent. Su’a went as far to say Helton getting the job, would be a major factor for him to return.The team has unified. With such a young team, a win over Stanford, Rose bowl trip. The best hire would be Helton.
        Helton has made a major impact on defense side of coaching. Jackson said it, when the head coach spends a day or two a week coaching defense you want to go to war for him…He told the players go out and make it happen on special teams, and bring me the ball. Jackson sprinted to Clay with the TD ball.As did Green.These kids love playing for him.
        A new coach will have a lot to do to win this young team over.Side note: 6 freshman have scored TD’s. !!

        • Yes, the guy’s genuine and exceedingly likable. The only weak link in him is the lack of track record as a head coach. But will he be able to make it up by the tutelage of his father who’s a lifetime football coach and his highly personable style of coaching fortified with his fervent passion for winning? Well? We wouldn’t know the answers to that question until a few years later. Anyhow, I think the wisest thing for Haden could do is impede the selection of the new coach as long as possible, because Helton wouldn’t look so fitting to be our next coach if the team lost to Stanford by a big margin on next Saturday.

    • sure looked that way at Oregon …and CU before their qb went down up 17-3
      get a grip Helton is small time and has no business coaching -at USC any longer

  3. Patience is the key. Let SC play out the games. See how they do. Plenty of coaches will become available over the next month. The next hire can wait till January, whether it’s Helton or someone better. I’m not confident Haden can make the best choice anymore.

  4. USC needs to play a base 4-3 and bring a safety down into the box, Cravens, now and again against Stanford. Stanford wants to run the ball and USC has the athletes to match up with their receivers in man coverage. In the first game when Stanford put in an extra offensive lineman, #94, Wilcox did not make one adjustment. Helton needs to make sure genius boy does this.

    • Helton is handicapped by Sark’s bum hires (aka bag men and cover guys). I loved the shot of JW in the press box throwing his hand ups exasperated after the defense CH made him change to actually worked! JW is a db… and that doesn’t stand for defensive back hahahaha

  5. I think Petersen happy about not coming to USC. He has built a pretty good foundation to launch on this year with 50 some freshman and a good defense. He is not only a good coach but appears intent in building the players into men as well. He is very much a disciplinarian in doing things the right way. Just look at how he treats unsportsmanlike penalties. Also, what he did to Marcus Peters last year who might be the Defensive Rookie of the Year in the NFL. Most coaches wouldnt have done that to a star player, but it certainly has made Peters a better teammate.

    • Haden screwed the pooch not hiring Petersen, a solid coach, that does the right things. Now we are stuck debating whether some life long assistant hired by Kiffin and has some how survived 3 coaching fires … and got drubbed by the two teams he wasnt a prohibited favorite against.
      btw, where were hire Clay Kiffin pleas last week after the Oregon debacle … hire him and the Pac will be very happy. Dodging another bullet.

      • A lot rides on this coming Saturday’s game but I will say this no incoming coach wants to be hired by an AD that is constantly rumored to be leaving – very tough which is why Helton is looking more and more like both the logical and smart pick.

        • Im not sure the AD thing matters that much. Its the capricious nature of USC’s leadership that makes the decision to accept the HC job difficult.

          • Overall (USC’s leadership) you’re right but the leader is Haden and if Pat is prudent and does step down I hope the new AD the best because the school needs a new direction of a skilled administrator who isn’t making picks from a past regime member.

            Regrettably for Sarkisian but bluntly the best thing that happened this past season is his removal early enough to enable the team and staff to recover as they have – any guess what the record would have been had Sarkisian stayed?

          • I agree and where would be a mere two years into Sarkisian’s forgettable run, facing AL next September?

            This could well indeed the smartest move akin to Garrett hiring of PC – time will tell.

          • Pete Carroll’s run started with a resounding victory over UCLA and then an opening season victory the next year over Auburn. History could be repeating itself!

  6. It seems our sentiment for hiring Helton fluctuates with the latest games results as fans.

  7. Nowadays, I’m experiencing a very rare case of perfectly understanding both sides of polarity as to who needs to be the next head coach of our football team. Yes, Helton is a genuinely classy guy who’s extremely well liked by many, including players, and he should be given credit for having restored much of the order to the team and having them play physical by going back to the roots of Trojan football. On the other hand, he just doesn’t have an enough body of work as a head coach with which we could truly judge his capabilites as our future coach. But the truth of the matter is it’d be very difficult not to hire him as a permanent coach if he wins the next game against Stanford, even though some are saying they should wait until January, which I don’t see happening due to the importance of recruiting prior to it.

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