FOOTBALL

Clay Helton Quotes Of The Night

Clay Helton was oh-so Clay Helton after USC lost a winnable game at Washington.

“I love the way that our guys competed and I love their heart,” Helton said.

But were they warriors?

“I told the guys in the locker room that they’re a football team that we can see again come December if you do your job. They’re a good team and so are we. We have the chance to go back, make corrections, win the Pac-12 South and play them again.”

Do USC fans want to see the Trojans in the Pac-12 title game? Can’t fire a coach if he gets there can you?

38 thoughts on “Clay Helton Quotes Of The Night”

  1. Of the team gets to the Pac12 playoff game it will not be because of great coaching. It will be because the players correct the problems Helton created.

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  2. Great coaches, whether they are player’s coaches, like Steve Kerr, or hard-ass coaches like Belichick, have the “it” factor. Listen to them talk, watch their mannerisms, and it is obvious that these guys are outstanding at what they do.

    Helton doesn’t have that. Not close. Listen to Helton and it is obvious he should not be the SC head coach.

    Both Haden and Swann should know this better than anyone. This is what always puzzled me about their choices. Haden hired Helton to be HC when it was obvious he didn’t have what it takes. Then Swann extended Helton.

    #WhatGives?

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    1. Haden finally’ realized hiring someone on a ‘hunch’ (a friend) is not what a real athletic director does. Then he doubles down and slothfully gives Helton the job. Then with the revelations of his plundering the Mayr Foundation the ‘health’ issue makes it imperative he ‘retire’ but not too retired from renovating the Coliseum.

      Haden – arrogance
      Swann – a lazy shiftless bum

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    2. It is really odd that SC isn’t on the national scene, part of the problem is changing coaches to often. Need to stick with Heldon rather than chwnge again

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      1. Justin Flowe, Bryce Young, Najee Harris, DJ Uaigalelei and on and on. The top players no longer want to play in the PAC-12 or for Helton. Can SC just resign itself to being a glorified second (or now third) tier team and risk being dropped off Notre Dame’s schedule or consigned to the status of a Bowling Green or Troy State?

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    3. It’s been 14 years since SC was in the national championship playoffs or BCS as it was called back then. Our current players were in preschool, Kindergarten or 1st grade then. 14 long years since USC mattered. Thanks Reggie Bush!

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      1. Yes, thanks Reggie. And a special thanks to the NCAA for applying their invented “Institutional Control” rule ex post facto.
        #AndMayHadenNeverBeForgivenForSaying…
        #…”ThankYou,Ma’am,MayIHaveAnother?”

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  4. What?!?! Gomer didn’t mention that we are still in the running for the California championship?!?!? And he told us to hold on until December to see that this team is special?!?! What happened to holding on until November?!? I’m sick and tired of the empty promises. Enough!!

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    1. Good call, Calabasas. We’ve only played the first two games of the Luster-Filled California Championship. We have 2 more to go! This could still be a SPECIAL YEAR!
      #IfFoltWantsToFireHelton,SheBetterDoItNow…
      #..CuzI’veGottaAFeelingHe’sGoingToBeatNotreDame…..
      #[HardToFireAGuyOnWayBackFromSouthBendVictory]….

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  5. This fools utterances and excuses have become obnoxious and sickening.

    He is nothing more than a imposter feverishly clinging on to the best job he will ever have…and we, the School, Alums and fans are all paying for it…and beyond that, suffering for it as well !
    Finish the season, Fire this A$$hole and move on!

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    1. I reluctantly agree with you, factor13 (although one so clever as yourself should have come up with a cleverer name —something like “Plan 9 From Outer Space”). I think Folt also reluctantly agrees with you. Her problem is she sees how hard Helton is working (he fricking sleeps in his office) and she knows she’s gonna feel like a rat when she tells him to pack his bags. Unfortunately, that’s what she has to tell him —and if it has to be done —for recruiting, for attendance, for the brand —the sooner the better.
      I might point out, though, that Urban Meyer watched Fink against Utah and thought he was USC’s future. It worries me that he couldn’t tell how limited Fink’s skill set is. During halftime of the Washington game, Meyer announced that— now that Fink got that interception outta his system— Fink should be freed up to throw anything USC had in the playbook. What? He couldn’t see how confused and inaccurate Fink was during the first half? I bring this all up to make the following point: Just getting rid of Clay doesn’t mean we go 15-0 with the next guy–whoever it is.

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  8. To win the south it will take mega changes to the practices and game prep…something needed for last 3 yrs to even come close to consistent winning vs real football teams , you rarely play better than you practice…we lost again to a mediocre talent ,but well coached Wash team that recruits better every yr. Meanwhile SC is gong down the drain in recruiting standings. Why…coaching….

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  9. I JUST READ Dan Webers analysis…read it .
    He says it all…finally…HE HAS ARRIVED…
    TIME FOR THE CHANGE NOW… the athletes deserve the chance, they will never get with hellton…they never practice or prepare under hellton…period

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    1. Dan, in his article still cautiously tip toes through the Tulips with his premise.

      But the message is quite clear, it’s time for Helton to be relieved…Period.

      Now comes a critical time for Management, in this case Administration and BOT to stop the hemorrhaging and salvage the Brand before it collapses.
      What are the choices ? What are the associated costs ? What are the benefits of a change ? What effect will it have on the Brand local/national ?
      Who can lead this turnaround ? What is the timeframe to see benefits ?

      This is a serious matter and can’t be left as “something we’ll get around to”
      But needs immediate consideration, planning and execution.
      How this is handled will be with us for the future and it better be done expeditiously and professionally or the Football Program will go down in flames.

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      1. Care to tell us—specifically— what you would do if you were Folt? Who would you push for as A. D.? For Head Coach? [No fair saying she has to leave it up to the “experts.” The President has to weigh in on these matters —it’s best that the ‘experts’ aren’t working in a vacuum].

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      2. I thought he was pretty direct…just left out naming any specific coaches to be hired…but fire and replace NOW…’cause it can’t get any worse…these practices are killing this football team…these coaches think watching tapes will fix what is wrong…in reality actual hard work of real football tackling and blocking in practice at game speed every day will fix the problem…hellton refuses to do this…and practice the offense vs the defense they will face,and the defense vs offense they will face,and 1st team vs 1st team,etc…

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  10. I did some research.
    And it turns out you can fire a coach that makes the Pac12 Title Game.
    The UCLA Bruins were ths South Champs (LMAO!) in 2011.
    Pretty Ricky or Rick Neuheisel was fired shortly after losing that game coming off the 50-0 comedy against SC.

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    2. I loved that game. Remember in the first quarter? Skippy eschews going for the field goal on 4th and goal and the one and gets stuffed and then SC rolls down the field 99 yards for the TD and the ruins give up? We could have scored 100 that night.

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      2. I wish i could have went to that one.
        But watching it was so awesome and at the same time sad yet still very funny because they had a great pre-game show before on foxsportswest for about 2 hours with lots of interviews with former players from both schools. They actually built it up to seem like it was gonna be a competitive game. Haa! That was a beatdown

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  11. USC is -7 on turnover ratio. No team consistently wins with that statistic. Clay is so far in over his head and Folt knows it. We will probably have to waste this year but he is gone. What a disaster….

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    1. Doesn’t speak well of Pendergast’s management or training of the defense.

      I’ll wait for Kevin Bruce’s analysis on WeRSC of the defense against Washington.

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  12. The sky is falling, the sky is falling. Blame Helton for the 3-interceptions that cost the game, and continue carping how Trojan football is going down the
    drain. SC football was pretty average from 1980 to 2001, an entire generation! Not a sniff of a National Championship chance and only 2 Rose Bowl victories to show for it. It was frustrating as Hell and a lot of fans gave up on SC ever being excellent again. But all it took was a Pete Carroll and 2-years to turn SC back into a dynasty with sell-out crowds. Odds are it will happen again. Some today. But not to-day.

    Southern California is a hotbed of talent and when SC is very good, the talent usually goes there. Right now, SC is only pretty-good, so kids are dispersing around the country. I would say the next 2-years are critical because the talent the team has now can win most games. But 2-years from now the poor recruiting class kids will have to play, and there will likely be a further drop-off in winning results. So now is the time to strike if SC wants to start winning the local kids again.

    So that begs the question of what to do with the coach. I don’t know if Helton has cost SC games, it looks like its mainly on the players, but the constant lashing out at the Coach from the so-called fans and media have cast a dangerous negative spell over the entire football program. Aside from whether he is a competent coach or not, he will be relieved to appease the Trojan crowd, the harping and carping crowd.

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    1. John — Great piece. Helton didn’t plan on starting Fink against Washington. Over the last two Saturdays we’ve seen lots of good coaches go down when they were forced to rely on backups. [And Pete Carroll didn’t do so great with Aaron Corps or even a slightly thumb-impaired John Davis Booty, did he]? Helton isn’t a great coach —but recruiting has suffered for a myriad of reasons not having to do with Helton —the biggest of which is the unending speculation that each game is Helton’s last. But we are where we are. Recruiting and attendance are down —and something has to be done about it. It would be nice —in a perfect world —if Folt could announce tomorrow that, having met with all necessary parties, she will allow Helton to finish up the season, and the Athletic Director and Head Coach (Urban Meyer) are lined up for next year.
      Of course, at timid USC, that is NOT what will happen — committees will doggedly continue their searches so that responsibility for decision making is blurred and spread out. And we’ll soon be back to Square One.

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    2. John,
      Respectfully I say this.
      Yes in fact the sky is falling at least to the many who have been paying attention.
      You speak of a generational drought experienced through the 80’s and 90’s
      and the so-called as you term them, the likes of Dan Weber, Keyshawn Johnson and many, many others including Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart open bragging about recruiting Urban as the next coach…do you consider them as so-called fans ?

      No, they are not, like many on this and the other fan blogs, they are fans and Alums who are exasperated and disgusted with the current leadership deficit in the Football program and voicing their position hoping to forestall just what you mentioned, the happenstance of another generational gap, by making a change now because the deficiencies are so glaring !

      The issue of recruiting as you mention is real for many reasons, among them, our less than stellar performance, do you not hear or do you dismiss the words of young players voicing concern of not being developed to their potential in this, Helton led system ? And going elsewhere. Then of course you now have recruiting competition from other Top programs in this fertile region…
      Make no mistake, the causation for this situation is directly tied to the Head Coach of our program, everyone seems to see and understand the reality but,…..
      When we are winning, playing Trojan Football, USC OWNS CALIFORNIA RECRUITING…unfortunately not now.

      So you tell me, what needs to change, something, nothing, what ?

      By the way, did you have the same tolerable attitude with Paul Hackett ?

      When a Captain of a US Naval Destroyer runs into a Cargo ship, is it the helmsman (Quarterback) or the Captain who gets relieved, citing a Loss of Confidence in their Leadership ? Ponder that awhile.

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    3. “SC football was pretty average from 1980 to 2001, an entire generation! Not a sniff of a National Championship chance and only 2 Rose Bowl victories to show for it.”
      -Incorrect- #2 USC played #1 Notre Dame for the mythical national title on November 26th 1988… we lost 27-10 but we had the opportunity to win the national championship that bitter afternoon at the Coliseum. Rodney Peete was clobbered just before half and wasn’t the same the second half.

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      1. My bad, gotroy. And I was at that game! Guess I wanted to forget the outcome. And then of course Troy lost the Rose Bowl so it was a bitter end to the ’88 season.

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  13. It’s always tomorrow! – The next game! – Next season! – Down the road!… Backs overrunning the plays – the players look at one-another like a deer in the headlights. That: what do I do now look. Play calling? Kick the ball away with only four yards for a first down? We’re a long way from playing top SEC teams. It’s sad. We have the talent, but where’s the coaching?
    How long do the players and fans have to go through this? HELP!

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  14. Helton is a journey beyond mediocrity into looserville… A national championship (yea, that would happen) wouldn’t quench my desire for a Heltonless Trojan football program…. But Clancy and Baxter need to hit the streets…. It’s hard to remember a defense as feckless….

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