Hot Seat Watch: 10 college football coaches feeling the heat in 2019
1. Clay Helton, USC
Helton somehow survived the worst season for USC football since 2000, matching the 5-7 record the Trojans posted under Paul Hackett before Peter Carroll arrived. The hiring of former Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury as offensive coordinator felt like a move to help Helton succeed, while also creating an easy option to replace him if/when it came to that point.
But Helton dodged that potential high-level contingency plan to replace him. Kingsbury quickly left USC to take the head coaching job with the Arizona Cardinals, after athletic director Lynn Swann backed down from exercising his right to block interviews with NFL teams.
A 21-6 record over his first two full seasons as USC’s head coach, with a Rose Bowl win and an appearance in the Cotton Bowl, had Helton’s stock on an upswing. But that is looking like a great credit to former quarterback Sam Darnold, as Helton and since-fired offensive coordinator Tee Martin struggled to get the most out of highly touted recruit J.T. Daniels last season.
Helton seems like a genuinely nice guy, and he’s a solid football coach by most accounts. But nice and solid is not where USC expects to be on a national scale.
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The mulligan Helton got after last year’s underachievement is definitely a one-time deal, so without a bowl bid next season the time to his dismissal after the regular season finale may be measured in hours. Even if the Trojans win seven or eight games, Swann could go after a big fish in an effort to bring the program back to real prominence. (Urban Meyer?)