INSTANT REACTION On USC’s Clay Helton Hire

HELTON.UCLA.FIGHT.ONClay Helton getting hired is an example of nice guys finishing first. The players love him. I cannot be so kind for Pat Haden, however. He has now had two coaching hires and hired a former USC assistant (Steve Sarkisian) and a current USC assistant (Helton).

Where is his ambition? Is this USC or a junior college? I realize USC’s history shows nearly every coaching hire was a former or current assistant, with a few notable exceptions like Pete Carroll or Larry Smith. But USC can pay a coach $8 million a year. This does not reflect well on the administrative vision of Haden. And I say that as someone who thinks Helton might do a great job.

131 thoughts on “INSTANT REACTION On USC’s Clay Helton Hire

  1. Knowing Haden he probably made this move because he likes Helton a lot as a person. Just because someone is likable is a far indicator that they will have success. Pat Haden makes decisions based on his happiness, and not in the best interests of USC. He has completely failed in his term as athletic director.

    • Admittedly the Sarksian hire was awful but aside form that Haden has been a fairly good AD and I sense he’ll be moving on shortly.

    • Haden may be a failure as an AD–many have that opinion. But to say he makes decisions not in the best interest of USC is just laughable. Haden has dedicated his life (and yes I know he draws a healthy salary) to USC and if you cannot acknowledge that fact, your opinion loses just a bit of credibility. BTW—if Helton was not selected HC, I would have been ok with that decision too. Outside of a very very few coaches, none are guarantees.

        • Gabe, he was an accomplished television analyst for a network that televised ND games. I would hardly call that dedicating his life to ND. BTW–when he was calling ND games he was also on the USC Board of Trustees. Criticize Haden all day long for his Sark hire and Enfield hire, but to go after him for being a successful analyst is just plain silly

        • I would have at least made a run at some proven head coaches at lesser schools than USC. USC is without question a top 5 national program and a ton of top guys would listen at the very least. A nobody like Clay would be available any time USC called and Haden had no reason to rush into this hire.

          • Dan Mullen, Hugh Freeze, Tom Herman, and if I wanted an assistant with no experience then I would go with Kirby Smart.

          • Those are all respectable names, although 3 out of the four would not likely ever leave the SEC….especially with openings at Georgia, possibly LSU and the other USC…..Tom Herman has had a great run this season, but I don’t seem him heading west either…Herman’s impact on the Ohio State offense was obvious based on how inconsistent and stagnant they’ve been this year….and Kirby Smart and Dan Mullen are both being rumored for the Georgia vacancy..

          • What is the point in hiring Clay now? He will be there next month. USC should have gone after the more qualified candidates before settling for a trainee.

      • Notre Dame and Oregon are better teams right now with coaches who have implemented their philosophy and systems completely.

    • Not enough time to determine whether he righted the sinking ship. Haden is a coward. Never thought I would say that.

      • Ok then again if Haden hired some profile and that was a bad move what would that make of Haden then? – Look this a good move for the short term and it keeps the recruiting running the way kids like – a HC that is there.

        BTW It’s not smart to call someone a coward on anonymous posting board

        • But I guess calling someone not smart on a message board is okay…. Besides, Ken Hart is not anonymous… He put his picture and name for anyone to see… You on the other hand, can’t even spell your name right! It’s AlBARADO.

        • Oh stop with the fake advice and standing up for someone on the web, when Haden would only let you shine his shoes. Haden is a coward. And Ken there has his picture and name, you think Haden is running him down? GTFOOHWTBS

  2. “And I say that as someone who thinks Helton might do a great job.”…. Scott always leaves himself an out… way to hedge your bet….

    • He’s the master of conventional wisdom. Even Platchke (sp?) can take a stand and back it up. Wolf is neither a straight reporter or an accomplished editorial writer.

      • Seriously… he’s the laughing stock of USC beat writers……..the other beat writers tolerate him only because he’s willing to ask people the most inane questions (which they would NEVER dream of asking), which might occasionally reveal an amusing nugget of information…

  3. “All of this proves that any coach can win at USC simply by getting out of the way and letting the players play.”…..Scott Wolf

    Why have any “ambition”, Scott?

    • Scott should love this hire. It proves his point about letting players play or he gets to gripe about a non big time hire. I really like the fact that Coach CH has wanted the job and has earned the job. I’m going to bet that a lot of assistant coaches get shown the door and he brings in a lot better staff.

        • Nothing wrong with being a “nice guy” as long as its not for covering up shortcomings that players will end up disrespecting you for

          • I agree….. and Helton wasn’t bashful about yanking Damien Mama from the starting lineup for disciplinary reasons, despite being a “nice guy”…..

  4. I surely wish him and the team the very best…he did prove he can fix what has been wrong…his staff will be interesting to say the least.

      • He wasn’t HC against Stanford. That will be this weekend! He emphatically won back Los Angeles. That is more important than Oregon or ND.

        • He was the OC when we put up 12 and 14 vs Washington and AZ State. And he was the OC when we lost to Stanford. Stop it. And if you think that beating a mediocre UCLA team is the measure of being a coach at SC, wow. Just wow. That’s worse than the losers cross town.

    • KeyShawn Johnson,this morning had a lot to say(as usual ).
      Besides saying we got it right,and that Marcus,Willie,and many other
      Greats were part of the selection group.He was clear in saying that
      Major changes will be made on staff.That the support of the Current and former players was near unanimous .That major names were contacted and a few were very interested,yet would not make a commitment until
      Jan.,and only if other things in their current situations did not play out.
      I’m surprised,yet much more went into the hire than we know.Although
      It shows as a Haden hire,from what I hear it’s a hire by the Trojan family of former players .The current players love him,recruits love him,and he has shown he’s a coaches coach.He will revamp the staff,bring stability,
      Continue to learn and adjust,and keep the momentum into the future.
      After seeing the focus of the team before the Ucla game,not one of high emotion,but of focused determination.They went out and dominated
      out coached,and won for Helton.I was moved how Su’a,Cody,Juju, and the rest said they did it for coach.
      I believe we got it right.FIGHT ON!!!

    • I think in his typical incomprehensible way, Scott was trying to say that USC had $8 million budgeted to make a more splashy hire…….

      • Yeah you’re probably right – you said it best money doesn’t buy everything – Charlie Sheen.

        I am so glad there is stability moving forward.

          • Let’s wait until we see who bolts for the NFL from both teams and who starts for us at QB first, shall we?

          • How many phony names do you post with?

            Hey runs you got a new one because this has the bouquet of your usual, ever metatasizing angst …..

          • I’m glad the rumors circulating about Wannstedt didn’t end up being true. Unfortunately, the ones about Helton were true. Why did the premiere West Coast program not go after a proven coach before settling for a nobody?This is a hire I would expect in Westwood.

  5. Wolfy is slightly peeved that he had no insight or rumors that Clay was going to be hired. After all, rumors are just as good as news to Wolfy.

      • Have to hand it to the athletic dept. – no leaks which means the ones in the know were both few and vetted – well done Haden

        • I think the news was so absurd that no one would report the leaks. This would have been an average hire for Cal Poly.

      • Seriously – the guy has virtually no juice at SC in terms of information. When is someone else going to take the helm here?

      • Wolf did post his “Helton’s chances are better than Orgeron’s were” comment a few weeks ago, with his reasoning as to why Haden might do this. I’ll give him that.

        • Covering all of his bases, as usual….speculating on the chances of a coach being hired is one thing, but, like many fans (including me), Scott was holding out for a bigger name, and he really did not expect this to happen, at least not this week.

          • Would have been a lot harder to announce after a Stanford loss. Actually, the timing is the only thing the AD got right. Hey, even a broken clock is right twice a day

          • I agree….. it would have placed a ton of pressure on everyone, including the players, if they felt that it would take a win over Stanford in order for Helton to be hired as head coach…not exactly fair to a bunch of 18-22 years olds….

          • Announcing after the Pac-12 game would have left wiggle room to make a different announcement. But if Pat had his mind made up and this is what was going to happen regardless, then I suppose you’re right.

          • Not really sure about the timing…..it is rather curious, to say the least….I think that Saul may have it right…and who knows….this may inspire the team to a victory over Stanford and a trip to the Rose Bowl….how great of a send off would that be for Haden?

          • I am looking at perhaps the timing may be more about Haden than about the team. Just how ill is he that he has missed the last six games. Notice, very little has come out of the AD’s office in the time span he has gone underground.

    • He is 1-0 against the little gutties. Go back to your hole in the ground and come back next year loser.

    • Hey boyo you think Mora is happy with this? Hmmm – 5th place for you guys – welcome to Tucson or Vegas

        • I don’t think Mora is concerned or worried about who SC hires. He has his own problems to deal with, namely getting rid of the OC, Noel Mazzone!

          • None of the Pac-12 coaches should be worried about who another school hires… if they do, then they’re in the wrong profession…….

          • It will be interesting to see who Helton retains on the staff. Will he keep Wilcox? What about the OL coach? Will he hire a new OC? There are rumors that this is Kennedy Polamalu’s last year at UCLA. Is a return to SC in the works?

            UCLA needs a new OC and a new QB coach as they are father and son. Will Mora pull the trigger? An active offseason is in the works in Los Angeles, IMO>

          • All great questions… it’ll be an exciting off season for both schools, to say the least…

  6. You’re a riot, Wolf. You think Helton might do a great job, but you’d rather SC overpay for an NFL re-tread or a name from the past. You have to make a stronger argument for a person in your position. It doesn’t hold water. Helton may demand 5 or 6 million in a few years. Unless you know that John Harbaugh or Chuckie turned down the job, you’re not on firm ground in your criticism.

  7. When Helton ran the same running play 5 times in a row and UCLA was helpless to stop it, I thought, this guy gets it, he can coach. Sark or Kiffen would have tried some cute pass play which would have probably screwed things up.

    • Even better was that final play after Justin Drake was in the RZ – a short pass for the dagger – completely unexpected by the fans and the Bruins – that was the move that a quality coach makes to seal the fate of the opponent.

    • Like last year versus ASU. Second and two from the ASU 30 in the 4th quarter. Uh Oh! Here comes the bubble screen that loses 8 yards and out of FG range. Pooch punt in the end zone. Two plays later 76 yard TD pass for ASU.

      • All true, but Helton was coaching at direction of Sark. Just like Cam Cameron and the previous 2 OC’s at LSU coached at the direction of Les Miles. I am not saying Helton is the 2nd coming, but he has shown that he can adjust and lead——–question is if he can do it long term—and only time will answer that question

  8. For once I agree with you Scotty. Retire Haden now. If this doesn’t work out USC will continue to flounder post sanctions. Helton’s hire will not have the top recruits lining up to play for USC. Yikes!

    • Ken, why not wait until the recruiting process runs its course before coming to your conclusion? USC had some big time recruits at the UCLA game – including Oluwole Betiku, Brandon Burton and Mique Juarez. It was Helton that brought them to the game.

    • I’m choosing to reserve judgement until we see who his assistant coaches will be next year…..they can have as big an impact on recruits as the head coach, sometimes…

  9. Scottie sure didn’t see this coming! He was chasing the Chip Kelly rumors and rumors Haden was retiring this week. So much for “Inside USC.”

    In typical Scottie style, he attacks Haden for making the hire and by inference, that Helton is a bad hire.

    Note to Scottie: there is no correlation between the Head Coach’s salary and the number of wins. Paying $8 million doesn’t guarantee a National Championship… sorry but building a football program is more complicated than this.

    • Pat Forde on Dan Patrick this morning was asked about Kelly’s return to college ranks in particular USC and stated “…he has no interest in returning because he can’t stand to have to deal with meeting with the boosters..”

      • Kelly is no fool – he also doesn’t want to deal with NCAA regulations. Another round of sanctions at USC would kill the program for 10 years… no thanks.

    • Agreed. If we wanted to pay $ 8,000,000 for an NFL experienced coach with a Super Bowl Ring Charlie Weis is available.

  10. Haden was looking for “nice guy” that he could get along with and would not make his life more difficult. Shame on him for risking the football program once again. I truly hope it works out but there is nothing that would say that is probable. I like Helton as a person but not sure that it is a risk worth taking after two failures.

        • A coach one year removed from Bishop Gorman high school?…..Ray… take a couple of deep breaths, dude….

          • I can’t believe this. This was the time for a ‘home run hire,” and Haden does this????? My daughter does to Bishop Gorman, btw.

          • I wasn’t being critical of BGHS… I’m sure it’s a fine school… I’m not sure which “home run hire” you were hoping for, but look at the reaction of the USC players and several of the elite recruits…..that should say it all…

      • Hold on Ray! Haden’s timing is perfect as I expect the team will rally behind Helton and play a great game Saturday. A return to the Rose Bowl will cure those stomach issues.

      • Yes, lifetime assistant who came to southern cal as OC but wasn’t allowed to call plays. Not a very exciting hire.

    • Almost anyone would be better that those bums currently at DC and OL coaches to start…

      • So Helton was the guy, whose name was “under wraps” I hope Haden paid the 8 million a year that southern cal rah rah’s been spending on this message board!

        • You hope he did? Why?? You think that is a lot of money? To ucla it is, to USC it isn’t. Need to have a different perspective to post on here cuz you got nothin.

  11. Haden hired Helton, now the terms and time of the contract will be telling. A one or two year deal? It is quite obvious Haden is getting ready to leave, wants this done so Helton is the man. Okay, lets see who he hires, recruits and how we do next year. Only time will tell. I have to admit I am not real happy, but what’s done is done.

  12. Jon Gruden, John Harbaugh, Nick Saben and Clay Helton. Which one of these names don’t belong here?~

  13. Contact the athletic department to voice your discontent.

    Heather Dunn (dunnh@usc.edu). Executive assistant to Haden. Apparently, she answers messages for him.

    #firehaden

  14. what do you expect with Pat Haden? He doesn’t care about USC. He just wants his $2.5M for managing the sand vball coaching hires.

  15. Interesting story–at least I think it is. When PC was hired a friend of mine was so disgusted he sent the school president, forget the name, a box containing all his USC gear. He swore he was done with the school and would never attend another game or make another donation. The president returned the box, including a note acknowledging the discontent and asked for PC to be given a little time; before giving up on USC. Well, right about now my friend laughs at what a hothead he was and though he would have liked a more experienced HC, he is going to give Helton a little breathing room.

  16. Alabama is going to be blow out. And if Clay can’t win against Notre Dame and loses to Oregon and Stanford regularly as an OC or interim coach, what in the world makes anyone think he is going to start winning as a head coach??? We now hire coaches who can beat UCLA once every few seasons?

  17. This is exactly what the the late 80s going up to 2001 looked like at SC. Only it’s worse now because now it’s yag. The 80s and 90s at least were more kewl in general. Breaks my heart to say this, but every time I see Nikias I think “klown kollege indeed”. The “k” spelling for clown college may not be deserved, it implies fun.

  18. I don’t have a problem with the selection of Clay Helton, although I did have other coaches in mind . And if Helton decides to surround himself with top coordinators I expect him to do well. We don’t need a “know it all” type of coach that wants to play Head Coach and offensive coordinator, because that has proven not to work, over the last 5 years.

  19. Plus getting a coach to come when the hiring ADs longevity who hired you is uncertain makes it difficult to find a coach

  20. The E-S-P-N headline sums it up nicely “Helton hiring lacks pizzaz, but that won’t matter if he wins”

  21. when Robo II was hired I said, “not that retread” and I was right.

    Hacket was hired I said “I don’t think he’s the right guy” and I was right

    When PC was hired I said “who ? wasn’t he a loser in the NFL? – until a former SC pro player told me to my face, PC is a great coach wait and see, so I waited and he was a great coach.

    When kiffin was hired I said “this is gonna be a disaster, bad coach, bad person” and returned my 25 year season tickets – and I was right.

    When Orgeron was let go I said ” I think we missed a good opportunity with him”. was I right ? I know the players quit the day he was not retained. well the next hire …

    When Sark was hired I said “Well at least he’s a nice guy but I don’t think this is going to work out” and I was right.

    when Helton was hired I was glad in my heart and in my brain – and think he is going to do a great job, he’ll need a better assistant staff, OC & DC of course…

    Helton is like the little engine that could, after the flashier coaches have come, laid waste, and went, he’s been back there doing the real work of coaching. He’s a lot like me, not flashy, hard worker, steady eddy that rises to the top over all the other guys flame out and he has unanimous player support something most of all the past coached did not save PC and EO. Don’t be surprised if an inspired USC rises up and kicks the Tree in the butt Saturday.

  22. I like that this hire means a dedication to play physical football. Some of the other names would have surely meant going with the spread offense. If Stanford can have the success they’ve had with a physical, pro style offense USC can and should be much more successful because of a better overall roster.

Comments are closed.