The Rumor Mill

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A lot of you have asked me if special teams coach John Baxter is still on the staff. So far, I have not heard of any changes on the USC staff.

48 thoughts on “The Rumor Mill”

      • You always add so much to the conversation.

        What’s this? A post with no Helton bashing? I guess you record is only broken most of the time.

        • It was all over the place yesterday, sorry you’re so late to see it, but that’s your fault not mine.

          Gomer sucks, does that make you feel better ?

          Nice pick, is that you peeing ?

          • I wasn’t “announcing” news. It was a preamble to the question about Trout.

            No need to be such an asp.

  4. The 3 main criticisms I’ve read, not just here, sloppiness on special teams, weak O Line, and Offense play calling/lack of adjustments. Would seem some staff change is needed. Question is can they get upgraded coaches if Helton is perceived as on the way out, or is Helton’s leadership the over riding issue? Tyson got promoted out, and Martin is getting inquiries, maybe it is not the staff. Helton was the only hire Haden could get. Swann should be able to do better. 2018 will have to play out first. You just can’t fire a guy who wins 10 and 11 games a season.

    • Gomer was not the only hire the lazy drunk Haden could get, it was the was the easiest hire he could get

    • After seeing Helton stagnate and regress this past season, I now understand why he hired friends and family. He is not strong enough to compete with a talented associate coach. He clearly did not seek the best and the brightest for the team. I was an executive and I understood the importance of team building with talent. I think Helton is afraid of the competition. It’s clear Helton is a good man, but a poor executive. He doesn’t make the tough decision. He coaches with fear……..a terrible lesson to be teaching these young men

      • I do not know of a coach in college football that does not hire friends. Staff is like a team, need to have similar philosophies and concepts. These guys hire people they know, generally and it would be amusing for you to take note of the siblings and sons on coaches staffs.

        • You are right. Thank you for making that more clear. Sorry my point was not made well. I remember Pete hired his son. I suspect you are pro Helton. He is a nice man, I’ve met him & talked to him several times. I am only asking the BEST be hired regardless of the relationship. Yes, I do understand team. You make a good point, but I also think thinking outside the box is important to moving forward.

          • I agree with you. Helton’s deficiency is in not going after the best that the school is willing to pay for. For all I know he may be maxed out on budget now. The reason football coaches have a box is to keep looking outside it to find a new wrinkle or angle. I was not a fan of Helton being hired, not at all. Now that he has led USC through two seasons with a pretty good record I have come to see looking back what a mess he came in to and how stable the program at USC is now. That is why he was hired, and in that he has been a success. Will he remain, I have no idea, but nobody knows what will happen in 2018. After that decisions need to be made.

  5. I think that some changes need to be made on that coaching staff, especially on offense. The question is, will Helton make those changes. He’s a nice guy and doesn’t like to fire people but that offense badly underachieved last year and somebody must take responsibility. The O-Line was terrible and I’m not convinced that Calloway is a very good recruiter either. They’re paying a lot of money for a coach who isn’t getting results on the field and isn’t a very good recruiter. Baxter didn’t do a very good job either on special teams. If no changes are made on the staff, Helton should not be surprised if he’s gone in a few years.

    • Clearly, there were serious problems with both the OL and special teams. This past season, I was surprised by Baxter and have wondered if he has been limited in practice because of the weak Helton philosophy. What concerns me mostly is that USC has a moral obligation to the young men who committed to play for the school. These young men should have leadership, coaching, training to help them not only develop for USC, bur for their own lives.

        • Beyond football. Not all of them will make it into the NFL and those who do may not succeed. Life skills is what they need.

          • I would have to say you need to look into what kind of man Helton is then. There is a reason parents of his players think so highly of him and the lessons of life he is teaching them. He recruits so well because parents see the type of person he is. He is probably close to the top at teaching valuable life skills to his players.

          • Glad to see HCCH getting some good press from you. I agree. Yes, he is a good man. However, I think to win a National Championship he also has be good coach. I am in the crowd that believes he is over his head and not power five head coach material. Pete Carroll, David Shaw, Urban Meyer and others are all good men, too, and they are great coaches. Read today’s Dan Weber’s post where he quotes Pete Carroll’s coaching philosphy……..a great departure in views between him and HCCH.

          • Again, USC did not hire an inexperienced HC to win an NC. It would be nice but won’t happen. If you dislike Helton because he won’t bring the title to you, then of course we are not talking about the same thing on here. I think he may very well be gone end of next season, but he will leave a pretty solid foundation for the next great coach to take off on. Everyone is assuming USC will make a killer hire to replace him. The jury is still way out on that one, their record speaks for itself on hiring. I really do not care what Dan Weber says, one way or another.

          • I don’t dislike Helton as a man. I just think Dirty Harry said it correctly “a man’s got to know his limitations.” I don’t live or die by a win by SC. My concern is always the team. I want those young men to have the best opportunities we can give them. Based on what I have read and seen, it isn’t clear they are getting the best coaching. I watched Boise St when Petersen was the coach, I see him at Washington and I see the impact he has had on the programs. I saw him take 1 and 2 stars and make them 5 stars. To me, that’s coaching.

      • I don’t know how Baxter has been limited. You have a punter and a kicker on scholarship who have been beaten out by walk-ons. He also has a long snapper on scholarship and I’m pretty sure the holder is on scholarship too, although I could be wrong about that. That’s 4 scholarships being given for positions that are usually filled with walk-ons at most schools. Seems to me that Helton is doing Baxter a favor by getting him the best players. The first few years that Baxter was on the staff, I thought he did a great job. But last year I thought the special teams stunk.

        • Thank you for your thoughts. I meant that I wondered if HCCH “relaxed, no injury practice philosophy” has affected practice in general. I, for one, believe you play like you practice and if you don’t put the pads on and play like it’s the real thing, you won’t be ready for the real thing. Are special teams being rushed for example, are they wearing pads which makes a difference in how you move??? I don’t know the answers. I am only wondering because of the comments made that CHHC didn’t make the team wear pads or practice hard before the Cotton Bowl. Is it true, I am still asking. If it is true, I think it is a serious mistake on many levels including teaching the team to be afraid of injury.

      • Helton is not making any coaching changes.. However, they lost their QB Coach and need to make a hire..

          • Google has Norm Chow”s age at 71 years. 7i is a big positive, old enough to not only teach QB’s but call the plays as well. You see, steveg, since leaving USC Norm has served on one failed program after another. The sorry record since USC is not his doing. With Carr and other outstanding running backs, sensational receivers, a rebuilt effect offensive line and two gifted QB,s to teach and train, I’m thinking National Championship following the lead of the Nation’s best defense. All OC’s must be in the right situation to win NC’s. Next year, he will be in that right situation by returning to USC..

          • I can see Chow as QB coach. That’s about it. The disasters that followed Chow after USC were certainly his doing, perhaps not 100%, but he took positions and failed at them for some reason. He couldn’t even hang with PC, even though the two kids sabotaged him.

          • Good Idea but I think that would be too many OC minds.. Helton and Chow would clash… Feels like Helton wants to run his style of offense only.. Chow is more pro-style rather than spread

          • No.. It was stated that Helton wanted to keep cohesion with his coaching staff, that too many changes have effected the team.. and that no foreseen changes were going to be made..
            Not my opinion just what I read.. by someone who spoke with Helton and staff

          • Very much so.. but it would have to be worth it.. Palmer might want a break from football for a while.. His younger brother could be an option too

        • Mike Shula just got let go by Carolina. He has been o coordinator, quarterback coach, and Alabama head coach, but wonder if he wants to come back to college. Seattle just let go o line coach Tom cable, who spent time coaching college, was raiders head coach, and who is just the kind of tough sob who would light a fire under our underachieving group

  7. Would Nick Saban keep a coach who’s responsibility routinely goes unfulfilled? With 10 men on the field at times, stupid punt return play most of the time and just awful kicking this year what would the number one coach in the universe do?

  8. Scooter, that is the problem, you only hear. Get your lazy carcass down to the campus and ask That is your job.

  9. Assuming you actually replace staff members who are not delivering results, we all know who those guys are. But unless you need to grab a guy that is sitting around and in demand, or you think a particular switch will bolster your late recruiting, the time for an HC to make staff changes is between Signing Day and the start of Spring ball. Wolfie will post every couple of days for the next month that SC is blowing it not making any changes, and then, just like Bill Plashke always does, Wolfie will claim that he gave SC the idea when they actually do make some changes!

  10. Kris Richard, available. Darrell Bevell, available…and he’s used to calling plays for a team with no OLine.

    • Bevell perhaps would be good. You left out Tom Cable. Looks like PC is sending a gift to USC if they see it.

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