5 reasons why USC should keep Clay Helton as head coach
By Ian O'Brien
A 1-3 start is not what USC head coach Clay Helton had in mind, but his critics need to pump the brakes on the hot seat talk for now.
The USC Trojans football program continues to be in despair after a 1-3 start. The Trojans most recently blew a 14-point lead to Utah after allowing the game-winning touchdown to be scored with 16 seconds left. Trojans fans are understandably frustrated with their team’s rough start. Many of them have focused their anger on head coach Clay Helton, and his seat is already burning.
The Trojans have also lost to No. 1 Alabama and No. 7 Stanford in blowout losses. Their season-opening match against Alabama ended embarrassingly with a 52-6 loss while Stanford managed to put them away convincingly with a 27-10 victory. The Trojans offense has struggled to put points on the board while their defense has shown little to no sign of improvement.
However, USC should not make any rash decision this early on. Helton has not had a full season as the Trojans head coach to prove his worth yet. He has also shown what he’s capable of during his time as the interim head coach. Helton guided USC to their first win over UCLA in four years and to a 5-2 record en route to a berth in the Pac-12 Championship. While that game and their bowl game did not end well, USC proved that they are ready to contend soon. Here are five reasons why it would be foolish of USC to fire Helton right now.
5. Too much turnover will hurt the program
It is no secret that the USC football program is unstable right now. Many coaches are avoiding the USC job like the plague as a result. The quick firings of Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian have forced the Trojans to go through a high amount of turnover. This is never a good thing for a business, and it is no different with a football program.
Granted, Kiffin and Sarkisian both proved that they are unfit to lead a Trojans program coming off of devastating sanctions. Helton has not had anywhere near the time that they had though. He has only coached six games as the permanent head coach of the Trojans. There is plenty of time for him to recover from a brutal start to the 2016 season. There is no certainty that the Trojans will continue to play like this, especially if they can learn from their mistakes.