USC names Clay Helton head coach: Live updates

Live updates throughout the day Monday, including from the 11 a.m. press conference, after USC named Clay Helton its head football coach.

28 thoughts on “USC names Clay Helton head coach: Live updates

  1. Scott’s lame commentary after each quote made by Helton is petty and immature….things that we’ve come to expect from him….

    • SW plays to a small crowd.Problem for SW now,is Helton’s character
      Is beyond question.With Haden soon to be gone,SW will need a new plan.
      There are many positive,and good things to Helton’s hire.After Stanford
      game,it will become down to serious work.With job secured,what will be the staff changes Clay makes? This will be the true test.Recruiting will play out,and my guess we will end near or in top 5 class.But it will be the staff that Clay puts together that will be his first huge test.Indications from
      A couple influential former players,is that it is understood a stronger staff
      will be put together.

    • I really think we should all chip in to send Scottie to a Psychiatrist. And you have to wonder why the DN accepts this behavior.

  2. Now go out and bring Clancy Pendergast back. I am sure Orgeron is like wondering why Helton got the job and he didnt two years ago.

      • Under Orgeron we played on emotion.With Helton the team
        Has is learning how to focus.Helton also went to work to change
        coach and teach.Orgeron brought out the emotion in the players,
        But little else.

          • Yes..Sanctions affected us in many ways the last few years. The coaches, the hires the players….Stability, leadership, character, Trust , Pride and return to Trojan Football was so needed. Clay Helton is our Coach, I believe he has and will develop what is needed to succeed. One thing Haden did was remove a lot of drama with his choice.. The right decision many times is not the most popular.

    • The answer is very simple – Orgeron quit on the team during the season. What if Orgeron would have accepted Haden’s offer to be an assistant and then became interim coach when Sark was fired – he would probably have the USC Head Coach position today.

    • Clancy Pendergast is a great defensive coordinator. But he doesn’t want to recruit. He doesn’t seem to think that this is part of his job. He sees himself as a football coach and not a recruiter and he tells people that. That’s why he couldn’t find a job for a year after he was let go when Sark came in. A great DC like him should be able to find a job in a heartbeat. But nowadays recruiting is a major part of any coaches job at the college level. That’s why I don’t think that they will hire him.

  3. If Clay Helton decides to hire a blue collar, run first type of offensive coordinator, that teaches physical football, then I think he will do well.

    • He will need to hire both a DC and an OC.. Both have to be high powered.. I would try some NFL coaches for these positions.. honestly

      • I’ve been following football at the nfl, and college level for over 30 years, and I know better then to jump on board of the hiring of an interim coach. Because history proves it doesn’t work more often than it does in the long haul. But I’m hoping Clay Helton surrounds himself with top coordinators, and assistants, because if he does, then I’ll be one of his biggest cheerleaders.

        • Head Coaches probably get too much credit for the success/failure of the team as the OC, DC and position assistants do most of the work with players. I too am looking forward to see what Helton does in hiring the right assistants – that’s where Helton will have the largest impact. And I really hope Helton hires an OC.

  4. Email the athletic department to voice your discontent.

    Heather Dunn (dunnh@usc.edu). She apparently answers messages for Haden.

    #firehaden

    • what will emailing Haden accomplish? He is keenly aware that any hire was going to be met with criticism. The deal is done. No amount of social media, blogging and talk show yakking is going to change the decision.

      • He will be in a position to better understand what a disastrous decision he made. You don’t need to do anything. You can sit there and take more years of this cr#p, but that your decision. Enough is enough!

  5. Sounds like Haden missed the Oregon game in relation to his comments. Even the Utah win not looking so great anymore.

    • Well, USC beat Utah who were playing WITH Devontae Booker (unlike they were against UCLA) and our defense held him to a season low 62 yards, with no TD’s….

      • Well, UCLA did play Utah on the road. Comparisons don’t matter…SC beat UCLA. SC just hammered the little gutties. SC carved them up and served them with some chianti and sweet fava beans. Then they put the little gutties back to their rightful place in the slums of Westwood and the Trojans sat on the throne amongst the Los Angeles elite and celebrated with shots of Patron!!

  6. I cant believe this program has fallen this far that they cant get a proven head coach. Realize there are lots of openings, but this is USC in one of the most lucrative recruiting areas in the country.

  7. So when is Scott going to ask Helton if he plans on allowing the assistant coaches to enjoy a beer after the game?

  8. I think he is a question mark. He might turn into a great coach, who knows? But he just doesn’t have a real history behind him that anyone can make any real judgements on. They have said a lot of good things about him but they said the same things about Sark when they hired him. I really think that they should have waited to see who was interested. PH is really not a good salesman type who can go out there and convince some great coach that they should come to SC. I think PH took the easy way out. He’s 5-2 this year. Suppose he loses to Stanford and the bowl game and then loses to Alabama in the first game of next year? Then he will be 5-5. Is that the kind of a coach you want at SC? They should have waited. He’s definitely got some good points in that his father was an offensive line coach so he understands the importance of winning the battle at the LOS. Sark didn’t seem to understand that.

    • hey, you cant have an opinion if you don’t include ridicule and deride–sarcasm intended. I like the hire, not love it. You make some valid points and hopefully the team will perform well the next 2 games of this season and the opener next year–allowing a bit of breathing room for Helton. If team falters, whether for legit reasons or not, the heat will be on . but if they do well , most of the doubters will calm down and look to the future.

      • Amen. I still say that we should have waited. I just don’t see the negatives of waiting a little whlie.

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