USC football: Clay Helton’s buyout makes him immune to the hot seat

Clay Helton’s buyout from USC football ensures his seat will not be hot this season.

It seems as though USC football head coach Clay Helton has one heck of a buyout in his favor.

The USC Trojans head coach has been one of the most scrutinized leaders of a Power 5 team in the country. Though he is solid schematically, he is not able to recruit like many of his USC predecessors had before him. While USC is a private university and is not required to disclose all the inner workings of a coach’s contract, Helton will not be on the hot seat any time soon.

Clay Helton’s USC football contract buyout details

In February 2018, former USC athletic director Lynn Swann decided to give the USC head coach a contract extension after Helton’s second full season on the job. Helton’s extension runs through the 2023 college season. Though he had won 21 games and a Rose Bowl in those first two seasons, the following two years saw Helton go a combined 13-12 in 2018 and 2019.

According to The Los Angeles Times, Helton made more than $4.5 million in the first fiscal year of his new USC contract extension. This would have Helton as the 21st highest-paid coach in the country. Only David Shaw of the Stanford Cardinal and Kyle Whittingham of the Utah Utes make more than Helton annually out of the Pac-12 at $4,812,197 and $4,634,178, respectively.

Though we cannot know for certain because USC is a private institution, Helton’s current buyout would be roughly $20 million at this time. So, Helton would command at least $5 million annually for each of the remaining for years on the deal. With it being a global pandemic, USC is not going to punt on Helton until after 2021 at the very earliest.

Of the 20 coaches who make more than Helton, only five of them have less than the $20 million 2020 buyout of Helton. Those coaches are Jim Harbaugh of the Michigan Wolverines ($6,367,929), Whittingham ($9,250,000), Dan Mullen of the Florida Gators ($12,000,000), Tom Herman of the Texas Longhorns ($15,416,667) and Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs ($19,835,834).

So how safe is Helton leading USC? Unless the Trojans lose the rest of their games and are a total tire fire, he will absolutely survive the condensed 2020 season. As for 2021, that is a different story. It may be hard for USC to eat close to $10 million, but it would be at least in the price range where USC would consider. Four bad years from 2018 to 2021 might be enough to get whacked.

For one calendar year, Helton is impervious to any hot seat rumors because of his buyout.

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