USC announces decision to fire Clay Helton

The Clay Helton epoch astatine USC came to an extremity connected Monday, arsenic USC diversion manager Mike Bohn announced his determination to portion ways with the caput shot coach.

Bohn and Helton addressed the squad connected Monday day to denote the alteration successful leadership.

“Clay is 1 of the finest quality beings I person met successful this industry, and helium has been a tremendous relation exemplary and mentor to our young men,” Bohn said successful a statement. “We admit his galore years of work to our assemblage and privation him thing but the precise best.”

Cornerbacks manager and subordinate caput manager Donte Williams volition service arsenic interim caput manager for the remainder of the season.

“This play is conscionable getting started and we person the accidental to truly bash thing peculiar with this squad and this program,” Bohn said. “Donte is an experienced and well-respected manager who is renowned for his quality to make relationships with student-athletes, and I admit his willingness to instrumentality connected this challenge.”

Bohn said that USC volition statesman a nationalist coaching hunt for Helton’s imperishable replacement.

“Our assemblage and its enactment are committed to winning nationalist championships and restoring USC shot to glory,” Bohn said. “With our storied history, our talented roster, and the large investments we’ve made successful the infrastructure of our shot organization, I’m optimistic that we are amended positioned close present than we person been astatine immoderate different clip successful the past decennary to enlistee the champion and close person for USC.”

Helton, 49, went 46-24 successful his six years arsenic USC’s caput manager and successful 2 stints arsenic the interim caput coach. USC opened the 2021 play 1-1, but showed wide signs of regression successful a Week 2 nonaccomplishment to Stanford. In the Trojans’ 42-28 defeat, USC displayed galore of the shortcomings that person plagued Helton’s tenure, committing 9 penalties, losing the turnover conflict and struggling to execute connected 3rd down and successful the 3rd quarter.

Helton, who signed a declaration hold pursuing the 2017 season, had 2 years near connected his woody pursuing the 2021 season.

Hired arsenic the QBs manager successful 2010 pursuing 10 years astatine Memphis, Helton was archetypal named USC’s imperishable caput manager successful 2015 aft helium led the Trojans to a Pac-12 South rubric arsenic the interim pursuing Steve Sarkisian’s firing.

The Trojans went 10-3 successful 2016 and won the Rose Bowl arsenic backmost Sam Darnold led a 14-point fourth-quarter comeback against Penn State. Helton’s USC squad won the Pac-12 successful 2017, going 11-3 aft a nonaccomplishment to Ohio State successful the Cotton Bowl.

But successful 2018, USC went 5-7, losing 5 of its past six games and the last 3 by a combined 15 points. It was the archetypal clip USC had finished beneath .500 since 2000, the twelvemonth earlier Pete Carroll was hired.

There was speculation that Helton would beryllium fired. But then-athletic manager Lynn Swann announced that Helton would instrumentality the time aft the team’s season-ending nonaccomplishment to Notre Dame.

USC rebounded somewhat successful the 2019 season, going 8-4 successful the regular play earlier losing to Iowa successful the Holiday Bowl.

Athletic manager Mike Bohn was hired anterior to the 2019 regular-season finale. He was peppered with questions astatine his introductory property league astir Helton’s status. He declined to answer, saying it would beryllium inappropriate to bash truthful aft conscionable arriving and not having had clip to measure everything.

Prior to the vessel loss, Bohn announced that Helton would instrumentality for the 2020 play arsenic the caller diversion manager pledged to supply caller resources for the shot programme successful areas specified arsenic recruiting, video coordination, societal media and academics.

In 2020’s pandemic-shortened season, Helton guided USC done a cleanable regular play contempt challenges specified arsenic a curtailed off-season and nary outpouring shot to instal the strategy of caller antiaircraft coordinator Todd Orlando. But the Trojans mislaid to Oregon successful the Pac-12 title crippled 31-24 and elected not to enactment successful a vessel game.

The results and the improved infrastructure helped Helton and USC amended their recruiting results, going from the nation’s 64th ranked people successful 2020 to seventh successful 2021 according to 247Sports.com, adding the nation’s top-rated enlistee successful antiaircraft extremity Korey Foreman.

Prior to the 2021 season, Bohn said the anticipation for the shot squad is to vie for league and nationalist championships portion declining to marque immoderate ultimatums for the embattled Helton.

“We admit the betterment successful the programme and each the antithetic things we’re doing. Our trajectory is strong,” Bohn said. “All you person to bash is ticker these young players and the mode this recruiting people is producing for him and us. We’re encouraged.”

Added enforcement elder subordinate diversion manager Brandon Sosna astatine the aforesaid property conference, “ I person 2 post-it notes connected my table from the archetypal mates meetings that we had with Clay and his staff, things that we needed to address, and we’re truly excited. I deliberation we’ve checked disconnected astir each azygous 1 of those boxes.”

Despite the lackluster on-field results, Helton ran a cleanable programme astatine USC. As the men’s hoops programme became embroiled successful an FBI probe and the diversion section arsenic a full was swallowed up by the assemblage admissions scandal, the shot programme avoided immoderate large issues. Helton kept players who were nether probe distant from the team, specified arsenic wide receiver Bru McCoy, who is nether a Title IX probe by the assemblage pursuing a summertime arrest.

Then determination was the changeless instrumentality vitriol directed astatine Helton during his USC tenure arsenic adjacent successful palmy seasons, the squad wasn’t competing to adhd to the 11 nationalist championships that USC has won successful its history.

That boiled implicit successful Saturday’s nonaccomplishment to Stanford. Fans booed the USC squad arsenic it went to the locker country astatine halftime, and past during Helton’s on-screen interrogation anterior to the 3rd quarter. Fans began to trickle retired of the Coliseum anterior to the 4th fourth erstwhile it became wide that USC would not signifier a comeback.

Following the game, Helton acknowledged the squad had taken a measurement backmost from its season-opening triumph implicit San Jose State, but preached patience erstwhile asked astir the instrumentality base’s discontent.

“We’ll travel retired and we’ll proceed to get wins and adhd ’em up and we’ll spot wherever we are astatine the extremity of the season,” Helton said. “I cognize it’ll beryllium a palmy play astatine the end. Like I told them successful the locker room, you ne'er privation this to happen, ever. But erstwhile it’s an aboriginal 1 successful the season, you tin unrecorded done it. But you person to close it highly fast.”

But present Helton and USC person reached a parting of the ways, and it won’t beryllium Helton guiding the Trojans to the extremity of the campaign.