Why Clay Helton is the right choice.

I don't think this needs to be explained, but from reading online media and comments, apparently many people were hoping for a home run hire, more than anything else, which I find odd and far outside of reality of USC's past record and success.

Let's look at some past, successful coaches, shall we?

John McKay

After nine years as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Oregon, McKay was an assistant coach at USC for just one year before he was promoted to head coach. Is that a big hire? No. But he's a revered USC legend whose teams were ranked #1 at the end of the season, four times in 16 years.

John Robinson

Before becoming head coach at USC in 1976, he was a 12-year assistant at Oregon, a three-year offensive coordinator at USC, and spent one year as the running backs coach with the Oakland Raiders. As with McKay, he was never a head coach prior to getting the job at USC. In his 7 years, his teams finished once with a #1 rank, and twice as #2.

Pete Carroll

While Pete had four years as a head coach in the NFL prior to his hiring, most critics echoed the current complaints of Helton's hiring -- that he wasn't a home run hit. Watch 30 for 30, Trojan War, to get a sense about how the media and many people thought of Carroll's hire. From the start, I was excited about his hire, because I'd watched his defenses; when he hired Norm Chow, I was 100% in. So, even though his first year at USC looked like a dud, at 6-6, they were 4-2 on the back half of the season, including a blockbuster shutout of UCLA, 27-0, to end the season, and you could sense the change in attitude. The rest of history is well-known.

Clearly, USC's past success has not been predicated on hiring blockbuster, proven winners. This talk about getting a proven winner is mostly hubris -- the same sort of hubris that we've seen with the firing of Mark Richt at UGA, and the threat of firing of LSU's Les Miles. Today, people see the world through the lens of fantasy sports, where you can just pick winners and instantly win.

Clay Helton

So why is Clay Helton the right guy?

Go watch the UCLA game, then watch his post-game presser. It wasn't so much about winning the game, but it was the way they played the game, and Helton's demeanor throughout.

We saw the defense completely change it up, putting Su'a Cravens into the safety role, defending the inside / slot receiver, rather than as a linebacker lining up at the rush end. Seeing how intransigent Justin Wilcox had been the last two years with his defensive scheme, it doesn't seem to be a stretch to assume that this change occurred because of Helton's push.

We saw the offense determined to bully the Bruins with heavy doses of run, with Damien Mama pulling, Zach Banner bulldozing, and the fullbacks leading. Under Helton, the fullbacks climbed back from the purgatory that Sark sent them.

And of course, Helton has been nothing short of authentic, truthful, and clear about the direction of the team. When you hear him speak, he's fatherly but not paternalistic, confident but not cocky, and when he takes responsibility for the team's performance, you can see the results the following week. The guy's name is Clay -- you can't get any more grounded than that!

If what you wanted in the program was stability, Helton's attributes and actions are the sort of things you'd want to see established in the program. If you wanted a flashy hire to make everyone swoon, I think you've mistaken the history of USC for the history of Somewhere Else U.