USC fans buy plane banner calling for Clay Helton to be fired

Prior to Saturday’s game against Notre Dame, USC fans bought a plane banner to fly over the stadium asking for Clay Helton to be fired.

After a few very strong seasons for the USC Trojans, 2018 hasn’t been nearly as kind to head coach Clay Helton and his team. Some of the more impatient fans are already asking for a change in message for the football program.

Prior to Saturday’s rivalry game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, some Trojans fan(s) decided they had enough cash laying around to buy a plane banner. The banner was pleading for USC athletic director Lynn Swann to relieve Helton of his coaching duties.

Sky-high expectations heading into the season quickly fell apart, with the Trojans going just 5-6 and facing a season without a bowl game. This comes off of the heels of a Pac-12 conference championship and an 11-3 record just last season.

Any program will likely have some bumps in the road after losing a star quarterback like Sam Darnold, but these fans specifically didn’t want any excuses for a sub-par season.

Will Swann and the USC program decide to keep Helton? I think they should. The program has gone through enough drama with incidents involving the likes of Reggie Bush and Steve Sarkisian that this program probably needs stability more than anything.

The Trojans could think, however, that they could go out and get a more established coach to make them a Pac-12 powerhouse consistently. A coach like Washington’s Chris Petersen interested in the position could motivate Swann to give his current coach a much shorter leash.

Fans can make their opinions very well known, and there are definitely possibilities that Swann and company will be listening very closely before making any decisions.