USC finished their second-worst season since 1961 with a defeat at home against Notre Dame to end the season.
Clay Helton got retained, and shook up his coaching staff
Staff changes were expected, and they came in a big way.
Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
Rumors swirled that coach Clay Helton would be canned soon after, but athletic director Lynn Swann released a statement on Twitter that USC would keep Helton. The consensus within the industry was that Helton was going to make some changes to his assistant coaching staff. He did just that within 48 hours.
Going back a month, this means at least five — and reportedly six — assistant coaches are out.
Following a loss to Arizona State early in the season, Helton told reporters he’d assess any staff changes at the end of the season, according to several who listened to his postgame press conference.
After that, he fired offensive line coach Neil Callaway and announced he was taking over play-calling duties from offensive coordinator Tee Martin:
Helton’s rationale for the play-calling switch :
“I felt it was an appropriate time to become more involved in the offense as we continue to develop our team for the future. Tee and I have had conversations about this decision and he was supportive. He has done a tremendous job here. He will stay involved with the offense as he remains the offensive coordinator, helps put together our practice and game plans and serves as my offensive eyes during games.”
Some brief dot-connecting suggests firing Callaway might not have been something Helton just up and decided to do on his own.
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So now Helton’s done what’s necessary on his end after being retained.
Whether this second wave of firing came again at Swann’s behest or Helton’s own volition, the moves have been made.
Whoever the new offensive coordinator is at USC he’ll have a blank slate with which to build an offense. He’ll have highly-rated QB JT Daniels to work with, even though his freshman season got held back by injuries to both himself and his supporting cast.
We’ll see if a new offensive staff gets more than one season to turn things around.
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