USC is off to a good start but with a new AD coming in after Lynn Swann’s resignation, can Clay Helton save his job or is he gone no matter what?
Two weeks of the college football season are in the books, even three if you count the all-popular Week 0. At this point, we all know which programs are off to a hot start and those that need to get things going before digging too big of a hole. That of course directly ties into the coaches feeling the heat on the hot seat.
Some coaches have turned the heat up through two performances while others find themselves in an interesting spot. Hopefully programs have their calculators out and are figuring out what some of these buyouts are, because a clear picture is being painted about who needs to go.
Heading into Week Three, which coaches need a win the most? When it comes to one coach, wins might not even matter as a program reshuffles the entire deck.
Clay Helton: USC
Clay Helton enters Week Three in one of the most interesting spots in all of college football. After JT Daniels went down with injury, it looked like Helton, who entered the season on the hot seat, was done for.
Instead, Kedon Slovis turned out to be one of the best-kept secrets in college football and the freshman has established himself as a dynamic playmaker through just one performance in a blowout win over Stanford.
So with the Trojans undefeated and off to a hot start with two quality wins under their belt, Helton should be safe right? Wrong. USC has gotten rid of athletic director Lynn Swann and rumors of *cough* Urban Meyer *cough* could mean that Trojans have their eyes on the future regardless of what Helton does.
To his credit, Helton’s been one of the best at fighting off the ever-dreaded hot seat in college football in his time in Los Angeles. He was a stabilizing force when they needed him to be and that earned him the head coaching job.
Now, he’s fighting for his job and he needs the positive impact from the first two weeks to continue. It’s no secret that the next athletic director at USC could have a very strong interest in bringing in their own coach.
That’s standard for just about every athletic director hire around the country. They want to put their coach in place and at a high-profile program like USC, a splash hire at head coach should be expected in the future.
So if there is a light at the end of the tunnel for Helton, it’s going to come down to Slovis being the next big thing in college football and taking the Trojans to heights they weren’t expected to reach this season.
This isn’t a usual hot seat scenario when it comes to wins and losses. Many times a coach on the hot seat would be safe if their program rattled off eight or nine wins. In this case, that might not even be enough for Helton to be safe.
If USC has a strong indication they’re going to make an impact head coaching hire, regardless of if its a former Ohio State head coach or someone else, then they’re likely going to pull the plug on Helton and begin a clean reset for the future.
They’ve had a few of those resets, but it feels like the next one could be big and some life could reinvigorate a sleeping giant in the college football world. Point being, Helton might not have a shot at all, but if he does it’s going to have to be a season of over-achieving. USC is at BYU this week.
Willie Taggart: Florida State
Remember those aforementioned calculators programs will need for calculating buyouts? Florida State should begin figuring out what they need to pay to move on from Willie Taggart right away. They narrowly avoided an embarrassing loss to ULM at home this past week. Things aren’t trending in the right direction.
Chip Kelly: UCLA
Chip Kelly came into a bad situation at UCLA and has a ton of work ahead of him. He has a lot of underclassmen right now and doesn’t have the quarterback he needs to take off yet. Still, it’s fair to wonder if he should have held out a little longer for a better situation.
Jeremy Pruitt: Tennessee
After a bad loss to Georgia State in the first week of the season, Tennessee decided to double down. The Volunteers fell at home to BYU. Jeremy Pruitt is not having a good year so far. Losing to Chattanooga this week would probably make Knoxville self-destruct.
Charlie Strong: USF
The Bulls haven’t won in a while dating back to last season and Charlie Strong’s program isn’t turning out any inspiring performances. With just 10 points through two games, the Bulls have to get things going this week at home against South Carolina State.