Clay Helton was named permanent USC head football coach Monday following a resounding win over UCLA this weekend, university officials announced. Haden, a former star Trojan quarterback, hired Helton, a former interim coach and offensive coordinator under Sarkisian. Sarkisian was sacked in the midst of reports of a drinking problem.
Advertisement
The Trojans are set to face Stanford for the Pac-12 championship on Saturday.
“If they beat us I want to play them again”, Bowden said during a phone interview.
Helton’s players loudly advocated for his promotion to the full-time job, but Haden said Helton’s broad support among past and current Trojans was only one factor.
Helton’s hire also comes as a huge plus to the Trojans in terms of high school recruiting.
Clay Helton has twice taken charge of the USC football program in moments of crisis and steadied the Trojans with calm leadership.
Stanford hasn’t been playing its best football over the last few weeks, especially on defense, and Notre Dame nearly made the Cardinal pay dearly for it. The Ducks did.
“This place was founded on a blue-collar toughness, a toughness that I hope to emulate with my time here” said Helton. I became convinced not only after watching his team play, but also after spending part of a morning with him in his office, listening to him speak with great humility and passion about his players, checking out the giant books on his coffee tables that contained photos of those players and their parents. “I am so proud to have the chance to lead what I feel is the pinnacle of college football and to represent our Trojan Family”, Helton said.
The timing of Haden’s move was surprising, even if the outcome had seemed increasingly plausible for weeks.
Athletic director Mack Rhoades said Monday that it was not “in the best interest” of the school to seek permission to play another game.
Not that they would not have done it that way if, say, Nick Saban or Urban Meyer had called.
Henry’s performance against the Tigers was notable for several single-game, season and career reasons.
After a season of ups and downs and wild endings, Pac-12 football is right back to where it all began. Stanford entered the game with a 1-1 record and doubts about the road ahead. This was a back and fourth game, with USC leading late in the third quarter.
Smith’s point: Holding McCaffrey to 94 rushing yards and 3.5 yards a carry created openings for quarterback Kevin Hogan to have a big game.
“Coach. Helton”, linebacker Su’a Cravens said emphatically when asked how USC rebounded from its sluggish start to win the Pac-12 South. “He’s changed our mentality”.
He’s pretty much a “players-win-games” speaker. Last week against UCLA, they ran the ball 59 times on their way to out possessing by a third of the game.
The media narrative would be insane if, at the end, the Trojans ended up winning the Pac-12 anyway. Oh and yes, we have one more final prediction for the season. In addition to its own victory, Stanford needs at least one to lose in order to have a crack at a playoff invitation, with No. 3 Oklahoma considered a shoo-in (though the Big 12 still doesn’t have a conference title game) and the other spot assured to the victor of the Big Ten title game between No. 4 Iowa and No. 5 Michigan State.
Advertisement
The Cardinal overcame that early loss to get back in the national playoff chase, only to suffer another setback to Oregon. Garrett had 10 catches for 216 yards in the win, and he now leads the country with 1,451 yards receiving for the season.
