A New Era: Clay Helton Out at USC

Clay Helton was relieved of his duties as the head football coach at USC on Tuesday after 10 years with the program and five plus years as the team’s leader.

Helton’s dismissal came after multiple years of being on the hot seat, leading the Trojans to mediocrity year in and year out ever since star quarterback Sam Darnold parted ways for the NFL. The straw that broke the camel’s back came on Saturday night at the Coliseum, when the Trojans were blown out at home 42-28 in a game in which they were favored by 17 points to a Stanford team that had low expectations coming into the season. Mike Bohn, the Trojan’s athletic director, announced that associate head coach Donte Williams will take over as the interim head coach for the rest of the 2021 season.

While the timing seems a bit odd coming only two games into the season, this has been a long time coming for Helton. Over his tenure leading the Trojans, Helton had a 46-24 record to go along with a 2-3 record in bowl games and one Pac-12 championship. One of those bowl game victories was the 2017 Rose Bowl when USC took down Penn State 52-49 in an all-time classic.

Helton found more success the following season after that Rose Bowl win, leading USC to an 11-3 record and a Pac-12 title before falling short in the Cotton Bowl to Ohio State. Sam Darnold made his departure for the NFL following that Cotton Bowl loss and that is where Helton’s success stopped and the mediocrity began.

Over his final three plus seasons at USC Helton went 19-14 including 2-3 against rivals UCLA and Notre Dame and losing their only bowl game appearance in embarrassing fashion to Iowa in 2019. Recruiting was also a major problem for Helton, as he lost 4-star and 5-star guys regularly to other schools from their own backyard. USC is the gold standard of college football, with 11 national championships, 39 conference titles, and 25 Rose Bowl victories, and Helton was not living up to that standard.

“Our university and its leadership are committed to winning national championships and restoring USC football to glory,” Bohn said in a statement. “I accept the enormous responsibility I have to our current and former players and the entire Trojan family to live up to our incredible heritage.”

It was well past time for a change in leadership, and that change is coming.

USC has always been known to go after their own, whether it be alumni or former assistants, that needs to change with the hiring of their next coach. There are many names being thrown around that could possibly take over the program but these four names make the most sense to be the next head coach.

Luke Fickell

Fickell is currently the head coach at the University of Cincinnati and has made them a top-10 team in the country. The Bearcats went 9-1 in 2020, winning the AAC and falling just short to SEC power house Georgia in the Peach Bowl. Fickell was hired by former Cincinnati and current USC athletic director Mike Bohn in 2017 after spending 15 years as an assistant at Ohio State. Fickell has turned Cincinnati around and was able to do it in just three seasons. His ability to recruit locally and in pipeline states would be an added bonus that he would bring to this program.

Chris Peterson

While Petersen is currently out of football and doing television for Fox he has had massive success everywhere he has been. He brought Boise State onto the map while he was the offensive coordinator there from 2001-2005 and made them a national powerhouse when he took over as the head coach in 2006. He went 92-12 in 8 seasons at Boise State, winning two BCS bowl games (including the all-time classic 2006 Fiesta Bowl over Oklahoma), and five conference titles (four WAC and one Mountain West).

After his success at Boise State he was up for the USC job before they hired Steve Sarkisian, so Petersen went to Washington. Petersen brought Washington from good to great, going 55-26 with two Pac-12 titles and an appearance in the college football playoff in 2016. He retired after six seasons with Washington in 2019. USC is definitely a school that can bring Pedersen out of retirement and would be a fantastic fit for both sides.

James Franklin

Penn State is like USC in the fact that they have a lot of tradition and past success, and James Franklin has helped them sustain that success over his six plus seasons as their head coach. Franklin got his first head coaching job at Vanderbilt, a school that has very little to no success in their history. He went 24-15 in his three seasons at Vanderbilt, including two seasons with nine wins and two bowl game victories.

Since becoming the guy in Happy Valley, Franklin has a 62-28 record, a Big-10 championship, and three bowl game victories, two of which were New Year’s Six games (2017 Fiesta Bowl and 2019 Cotton Bowl). Franklin has shown great ability to recruit even at a program that was plagued by heavy sanctions after the Jerry Sandusky scandal. He has a lot of fire and energy and would be a great fit for the Trojans, as that fire and energy would be great in Hollywood.

Eric Bieniemy

One of two current NFL coaches getting a lot of hype around USC at the moment is Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. The other name being Urban Meyer who just coached his first game for the Jacksonville Jaguars, so I do not see him being a viable option at this time. Bieniemy has been with the Chiefs since 2013 and has been their offensive coordinator since 2018. He has been rumored to be in line for an NFL head coaching position over this past offseason but he wound up staying in Kansas City. Bieniemy has plenty of experience at the college level and in the Pac-12, spending time with UCLA and Colorado. ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter speculated earlier today that Bienemy could be a serious name the Trojans take a look at.

Bieniemy has had a lot of success with the Chiefs and is one of the main reasons why quarterback Patrick Mahomes is now the face of the NFL. He would work great in Los Angeles and could help lead the USC back to being a powerhouse with his offensive scheme.

USC has a talented roster and should still be able to compete for a Pac-12 title this year and the coaching change should light a fire under the players. The future of the program rests on the shoulders of Mike Bohn and President Carol Folt. The last three head coaches after Pete Carroll left for the NFL have all been fired mid-season. This needs to be the right guy for the job, and should come from outside the USC family.

For more NCAA coverage, click here.