If not Urban Meyer, who will USC want to replace Clay Helton?

Well, let’s hope his next Los Angeles gig goes better than his last. Though the NFL game seemed to have passed him by on the offensive side of the ball, it would not be shocking to see former St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams head coach Jeff Fisher give it the old college try. His teams always had a strong defensive identity, dating back to his time with the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans.

Fisher has the connections to build a staff and could look at what Herm Edwards is doing in the Trojans’ division with the Arizona State Sun Devils as his next calling card as a coach. No, it’s not just the USC job that Fisher could be interested in. The former Titans coach could end up replacing Derek Mason as the next Vanderbilt Commodores head coach in Nashville. So that’s also in play.

So defensive acumen, coaching connections and availability are all great things, but there has to be something that would put Fisher over the top against some of these other top-tier coaching candidates. How about that he used to return punts and played in the defensive backfield for the Trojans in the 1970s? The native Angeleno could ignite his alma mater unlike few before him.

What this really comes down to is two things with Fisher: Can he recruit and what are the optics of Mr. 7-9 B.S. taking over a program that is essentially 7-9 B.S. in the college game? If Fisher is on-board with becoming a great recruiter and can empower his staff, this could be a really great hire for the Trojan Family. He’s one of them and he’ll do his best to make his alma mater relevant again.