USC athletic director Lynn Swann said he gave Clay Helton a five-year contract extension because he wanted recruits to know Helton would be their coach.

But I’ve heard another reason from a source inside the athletic dept.: “You don’t want instability in your two main sports. Right now, basketball has instability. Who knows what will happen with the FBI and NCAA? So you keep things low-key with football. No drama.”

That sounds logical. But how will it work in actual practice if USC loses 4-5 games next season? We will see how patient Swann really is.