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5 potential replacements for Clay Helton at USC

By John Buhler

Sep 23, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; USC Trojans head coach Clay Helton prior to a NCAA football game against the Utah Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 23, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; USC Trojans head coach Clay Helton prior to a NCAA football game against the Utah Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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The USC Trojans are a disaster under head coach Clay Helton in 2016. Here are five potential head coaching candidates USC could look to replace Helton.

The USC Trojans are an absolute grease fire under head coach Clay Helton. The Trojans are 1-3 on the season and have been outcoached in just about every game since Helton took over for Steve Sarkisian last season.

Helton did a fine job as the Trojans’ interim head coach last season, but former USC athletic director Pat Haden made a poor decision in promoting Helton to full-time head coach. Haden took an elite college football job at USC and drove it into the ground shamelessly out of hubris.

He couldn’t handle being told ‘no’ by elite head coaching candidates after destroying any stability the USC job once had. Haden loved to fire his head football coach almost every other year. Haden promoted Helton and resigned amidst health concerns to leave new USC athletic director Lynn Swann to clean up this disgraceful mess.

Should USC fire Helton? Can the Trojans really afford another ride on the coaching carousel this decade? Should Swann pull the plug on the Helton experiment in Los Angeles, here are five coaches he should interview for the USC job.

Sep 17, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Southern Methodist Mustangs head coach Chad Morris questions an official during the second half against the Liberty Flames at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. Southern Methodist Mustangs won 29-14. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 17, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Southern Methodist Mustangs head coach Chad Morris questions an official during the second half against the Liberty Flames at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. Southern Methodist Mustangs won 29-14. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports /

5. Chad Morris – SMU head coach

USC may view itself as a dream job, but it may struggle to attract top-tier coaching candidates. Even middle of the pack coaches may be reluctant to leave their current gig for a job that they view as unstable. USC is a blue-blood but needs to get its act together fast to land anybody worthwhile.

One coach that could be enticed to come to USC might be SMU Mustangs head coach Chad Morris. Morris has been with SMU since 2015. While the Mustangs are only 4-12 (1-7) under Morris, they’ve already matched their 2015 win total by Week 3 this year. Losing to Big 12 opponents like the Baylor Bears and the TCU Horned Frogs isn’t shameful for this weak AAC program.

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Before coming to Dallas to coach SMU, Morris was Dabo Swinney’s offensive coordinator with the Clemson Tigers for four seasons (2011-14). He had been the Tulsa Golden Hurricane’s offensive coordinator in 2010 and had been a high school coach in Texas since the mid-1990s.

Getting Morris to leave Texas for Los Angeles might be challenging, but he would be inheriting an elite talent pool in the Golden State to work with at USC. USC doesn’t really know what it’s doing on offense. Morris is still unproven as an elite college head coach but will provide the necessary offensive coaching acumen the Trojans desperately need.

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