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USC sticking with coach Clay Helton after missing bowl game
ESPN ^ | November 25, 2018 | Kyle Bonagura

Posted on 11/25/2018 3:53:57 PM PST by C19fan

Embattled USC coach Clay Helton will return for his fourth season, USC athletic director Lynn Swann announced. The Trojans finished the season 5-7, their first losing year since 2000. "It is my firm belief that we have a good team returning next year and a solid foundation in place, and that Clay Helton is a good coach," Swann said in a statement. "Let me be clear to everyone, our players, our recruits and our fans. Clay Helton is our head coach and he will continue to be our head coach.

(Excerpt) Read more at espn.com ...


TOPICS: Sports
KEYWORDS: college; football
USCs problem is their so invested in only hiring people inside the USC family they have an amateur Athletic Director and a mediocre football coach. Watching the USC v. Notre Dame USC commits stupid sloppy penalties and the ball security is horrible. USC has struggled all season with these problems. To me that is a sign of bad coaching.
1 posted on 11/25/2018 3:53:57 PM PST by C19fan
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To: C19fan

Good, I’m glad they’re keeping him. Go Irish


2 posted on 11/25/2018 3:54:48 PM PST by irish guard
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To: C19fan

When you start with a rookie QB you got problems already. Yes he went to a premier HS, but this isn’t HS. US has always had great receivers and they need a top QB to get the ball to them and someone who can scramble under pressure. He started well last night and then they all faded.


3 posted on 11/25/2018 3:58:13 PM PST by morphing libertarian (Use Comey's Report; Indict Hillary now. --- Proud Smelly Walmart Deplorable)
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To: C19fan

Agree with that.

I even think FSU should keep Taggart for another year. I just saw his comments after the Florida game and liked what I heard.


4 posted on 11/25/2018 4:01:17 PM PST by yarddog
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To: C19fan

All season? How about throughout Helton’s tenure?

Most penalized NCAA teams. USC was ranked:

2015 121st out of 128
2016 115th out of 128
2017 117th out of 130
2018 120th out of 130

As for being “invested in only hiring people inside the USC family” this is nearly a one hundred year old tradition. Elmer “Gloomy Gus” Henderson was brought in as head coach from a high school in Seattle in 1919. That date marks the beginning of “big time” USC football. Since then the school has hired a head coach without USC ties three times. Howard Jones in 1925, Larry Smith in 1987, and Pete Carroll in 2000. Most if not all USC athletic directors have had USC ties as well, save for Mike MaGee hired in 1984. He left the “real” USC to the “fake” one in 1993, and the ADs since then have all been former Trojan football players.

As a Trojan fan it was clear to me that the program was moribund and needed as fresh start after the Sark debacle. At this point fresh blood is essential.


5 posted on 11/25/2018 4:06:49 PM PST by SoCal Pubbie
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To: irish guard

Good, I’m glad they’re keeping him. Go Huskies!


6 posted on 11/25/2018 4:06:53 PM PST by RainMan (rainman)
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To: morphing libertarian

“He started well last night and then they all faded.”

Every loss this season has been the same story. The fans of other schools are rejoicing today!


7 posted on 11/25/2018 4:07:58 PM PST by SoCal Pubbie
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To: irish guard
Good, I’m glad they’re keeping him. Go Irish

Domers, Bruins, Stanford Indians and Cal Commies are celebrating this afternoon!

8 posted on 11/25/2018 4:17:45 PM PST by Fiji Hill
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To: SoCal Pubbie

I have 4 teams. Born in WV I still follow the mountaineers. They lost to two teams they should have beaten. They will still get a bowl and they have a pro QB.

San Diego State. live in Oceanside and I coached the coach Rocky long way back in 8th grade and played furor his dad in HS. My center in HS and best friend played for SD under air coryell Through 7 TDs in one came and rookie of the year in the AFC. So still a fan. They lost their 5th last night after going 6-1.

My son went to UCLA I dated a woman who was big fan. What can I do. They were pathetic. New coach inherited old coach’s players. They did beat USC.

USC was a switch from Notre Dame in 1963 when two of my fiends went to SC One played in the Rose Bowl three times. So Trojans.

If you want a team to lose next year, let me know and I will cheer for them.


9 posted on 11/25/2018 4:19:06 PM PST by morphing libertarian (Use Comey's Report; Indict Hillary now. --- Proud Smelly Walmart Deplorable)
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To: C19fan
As long as I don't have to hear that damn Tommy Trojan band salute every 5 minutes in a bowl game, I don't care what they do with their coach.
10 posted on 11/25/2018 4:23:31 PM PST by llevrok (Vote while it's still legal)
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To: C19fan

The decision to keep Helton seems to be in keeping with USC’s new vision of being a leading Pacific Rim institution with a globalist outlook. After several mediocre seasons leading to a dwindling fan base, it will be easy to phase out football, a parochial and uniquely American sport that is at variance with this outlook.


11 posted on 11/25/2018 4:23:54 PM PST by Fiji Hill
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To: Fiji Hill

Fiji, you posted a theme that is VERY popular among SC fans right now. The same song was sung by the Notre Dame faithful just a few years ago. I cannot accept that there’s really a conspiracy to phase out football or move down to Div II. I do think there’s a lack of commitment to fielding the best team possible. There’s just too much money coming in from the football program, an d they think good enough is good enough to keep the money flowing.


12 posted on 11/25/2018 4:32:21 PM PST by SoCal Pubbie
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To: llevrok
As long as I don't have to hear that damn Tommy Trojan band salute every 5 minutes in a bowl game, I don't care what they do with their coach.

Yep, we have a noisy band that annoys the hell out of our opponents.

Before the game and after each touchdown and each victory we play "Conquest"--which, believe it or not, was a hit record in the Southland in 1948.

After we gain a first down, we play our theme song, "Fight On." On third down, we play the fanfare, "Charge!"

When our team is on defense, we play the fanfare, "Tribute to Troy."

When we sack the other team's quarterback, we play Weird Al Yankovic's "Another One Rides the Bus".

At the start of the fourth quarter, we play "Galop", aka "Cavalry Charge" from Gioacchino Rossini's "William Tell Overture."

Occasionally we play our 1979 chart hit Tusk.

13 posted on 11/25/2018 4:40:10 PM PST by Fiji Hill
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To: C19fan
Injuries are part of the game, of course, but USC this year has lost a lot of game time from many key players. They were down to their third string QB for one game, and lost their two key LB's (one for the season, the other for two games). They had many other injuries causing them to start second and third string players.

That being said, it is not a complete excuse for a poor season, but it serves to clarify a reason for sticking with Helton one more season.

. USC recruiting was rated nationally as Number 2 in 2018 and #4 in 2017.

They have also had issues at the head coaching spot since Pete Carol fled for the big bucks and to avoid being fired. Not giving Coach O the position was a mistake, but keeping the popular Helton for one more year makes sense.

If they cannot win next year? Well we wish you well Coach Helton.

14 posted on 11/25/2018 5:03:55 PM PST by Michael.SF. (California: knowingly give someone aids: misdemeanor. Give them a straw, go to jail.)
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To: Fiji Hill
after each touchdown and each victory we play "Conquest"

Damn straight and that is why the opposition hates it so much because they hear it too often!!

Fight on!

15 posted on 11/25/2018 5:08:34 PM PST by Michael.SF. (California: knowingly give someone aids: misdemeanor. Give them a straw, go to jail.)
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To: C19fan
I would agree. I have only seen USC in the ND game, and they just appeared to be a poorly prepared football team. Maybe lacking in talent too, but who knows. In any case, just poor play for the last game of the season.
16 posted on 11/25/2018 5:32:25 PM PST by hinckley buzzard (Power is more often surrendered than seized.)
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To: morphing libertarian

Daniels should have been replaced by Sears, a more mobile QB. The Center should have been replaced as he was awful. That said, USC should have beaten Notre Dame yesterday.


17 posted on 11/25/2018 5:37:30 PM PST by Metrobank
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To: Metrobank
Daniels should have been replaced by Sears, a more mobile QB. The Center should have been replaced as he was awful. That said, USC should have beaten Notre Dame yesterday.

From my perspective in Row 77 at the Coliseum, Daniels seemed to do OK, at least early on. The O-line,for the most part, held off Notre Dame's storied pass rush, and he got off his passes. Unfortunately, a couple of his receivers couldn't hold on once the reception was made.

But Sears, who can scramble, would probably have been very effective.

Lobendahn, our center, has had trouble with bad snaps all season.

18 posted on 11/25/2018 5:47:35 PM PST by Fiji Hill
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To: C19fan
I'd like to dedicate a few songs.

To our coaching staff:
Straigten Up and Fly Right--The King Cole Trio

To the two receivers who fumbled:
Don't Drop It--Wilbert Harrison

To the Trojan family:
Ill Wind--Eddie Duchin

19 posted on 11/25/2018 6:03:36 PM PST by Fiji Hill
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To: C19fan
Personally, I don't think Clay Helton is the guy to take USC back to their glory years but I don't think he should be fired either. In 2015, he took over mid-season for Steve Sarkisian - I would consider that a freebie year. In 2016, he went to the Rose Bowl and in 2017, he went to the Cotton Bowl. This year, the Trojans disappointed. Two straight NY6 bowl games and then a hiccup doesn't seem like a firing situation. Even a "be good or be gone" speech by the AD seems a bit premature.

High expectations, impatience, and jumping on the coaching carousel is a ticket to mediocrity, even for schools with tradition like Southern Cal.

Helton should be retained because he hasn't failed to a point of being fired but I'm happy to see him stay for the reason I stated in the first line. Go Huskies!

20 posted on 11/26/2018 7:16:19 AM PST by CommerceComet (Hillary: A unique blend of arrogance, incompetence, and corruption.)
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