FOOTBALL

Clay Helton Offers A Gem

Here is a good example of why Clay Helton should be fired. He doesn’t know what he doesn’t know.

This is what he said on how the defense contained Khalil Tate:

“We had issues in the first half of the season. I credit [defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast] along with the defensive staff, Johnny Nansen. They went out and studied NFL teams, teams that have played Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes, some athletic quarterbacks, Baltimore Ravens and really see what others are doing to defend it and input in some of those things. I thought the kids thrived off of it and I was looking forward to watching it. They did a really nice job against I think one of the better athletes [Khalil Tate] in the country.”

Helton doesn’t realize what an embarrassing admission this is. First off, the coaching staff discovered there are athletic quarterbacks in the NFL?

Here is the key: You go visit NFL teams and college teams in the offseason to learn different things. Oregon coaches went to Alabama in the offseason. Pete Carroll used to send coaches to visit NFL teams.

But Clay Helton and Co. just go find video midway through the season because they never go study other teams. Just watch some video. After six games. Helton doesn’t even realize how damning that comment was.

32 thoughts on “Clay Helton Offers A Gem”

  1. You are being a dick. Helton did what any responsible person does. If it’s not working, you figure out how to fix it. USC held a bad Arizona team scoreless until only subs were playing in mop up time. That is very commendable. Is Helton the answer to getting USC to the elite level? Most likely not. But give him credit for not quitting and trying to make this team better. If his answer was, we didn’t study what other teams did because that’s what you do in the offseason, then you would rightfully jump down his throat for that.

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    1. No, Wolf is pointing out something that is so true of this incompetent goof, you do this in the off season not in season, that way you can implement what you have learned in the spring and fall, not during the season. Gomer should be visiting Jimmy Johnson, Saben even Bellechick if he would allow Gomer anywhere near him.

      And the RB coach might want to “teach” #23 to put the ball in the hand nearest the sideline when he breaks away, that way if a defender tries to strip it, it’s far more likely to go out of bounds than in bounds

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      1. So the defense isn’t working and Helton was not supposed to look for an answer mid season? You are so blinded by your dislike of Helton that you, like Scott Wolf, refuse to acknowledge anything positive. And given that Scott Wolf has been known to fabricate quotes from “sources” and routinely demonstrates poor knowledge of rudimentary football concepts, you are in fairly exclusive company.

        Now let’s hear your foaming-at-the-mouth ad hominem.

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      2. The defense didn’t work last year, so why not fix it then ? You want to give Gomer a pass because Wolf called him out, you hate Wolf so you defend Gomer. Any coach with a brain would have his coaches learning from the best in the off season not in season, and do you really think Gomer and his idiot assistants, that no one else wants, really looked at NFL film to solve there problem ? This is the gang that doesn’t start Stepp and leaves Kenan, the list is endless with this bunch of goofs.

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      3. When did I write that I want to give Helton a pass? You are engaging in a logical fallacy. Stating that Scott Wolf is a dick and disingenuous by criticizing Helton for making changes midseason is not the same as defending Helton.

        When did I write that I hate Wolf? I don’t know him. Unlike you (and Scott Wolf), I don’t carry around malice in my heart.

        But I know you want to engage in ad hominems. Don’t hold back. Get in the gutter. It’s where you’ve spent the better part of the past 2-3 years when others don’t hold the same opinions as you.

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      4. Your argument is that it’s perfectly fine to fix something 6 games into the season, that’s stupid when it should have been fixed in the spring.

        Rave on

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      5. Nope. That’s not my argument. At no point did I say or have I thought that. You continue with a logical fallacy by trying to infer an opinion which was never made.

        Since no coaching staff gets a redo, and can go back in time to fix problems, the best one can do is try to fix them in the present.

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    2. Every coach has a good day once in a while. But, we are looking for consistency and something that looks like a program in each game win or lose. Not sandlot ball . An understandable scheme not helter skelter stuff. Once in awhile and incosistency stuff does not deserve any credit.. Face it.

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      1. Face what? That Scott Wolf can only see the negative in every situation? Do you actually think my comment suggests I think Helton is a good coach? My comment was solely directed toward Scott Wolf and his inability to be unbiased and to think logically.

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      1. Funny.

        I understand Pudly’s decision to avoid this site. Only groupthink is permissible. I’m amazed how some of the more rational commenters now couch their opinions to accommodate those who scream the loudest. And if you don’t fall in line with those who scream the loudest, you are pilloried. The groupthink on this blog is general is comical.

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    4. And your ass**** ! Read what you just said. Did what any responsible person would do??? If it’s not working you figure out how to fix it?? Let me ask you this ass, if it’s not working why do you wait until the 7 the game? If he’s responsible with all the pressure he’s under why wouldn’t you do this at the beginning of the season. Think before writing ass!

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      1. I actually like your comment because you appear so completely unhinged, are incapable of rational thought and possess poor reading comprehension skills. I hope we cross paths in life many times.

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    1. It’s not all black or white when it comes to Helton’s coaching abilities. He’s not the worst and he’s certainly not first magnitude. If he runs the table from here, good for him. That would be an accomplishment. But no one can deny the sheer energy that happens on the field when the players that Helton has benched get into the game due not to Helton seeing the “light” but by acts of God. If he could recognize what happens when coaches get all the talent involved —the way Pete did —rather than going with the same players and the same plays week after week, he’d earn some respect and a shitload of victories.

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      1. I disagree it is black or white. By any standard he is not a good coach. We could{” if”} ourselves until doomsday but it wont change the hard rock conclusion that he is not fit for this job. You may take that to the bank.

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      2. Michael, did you notice with a minute left in the first half, Helton could have called timeout and stopped the clock to get the ball back from the Mildcats, but Helton didn’t do anything and the clock ran down. Then he called a timeout with 4 seconds left???? Even if we block the punt we wouldn’t have had time to get a field goal or try for the end zone. That is what is maddening to me. Shouldn’t they coaching staff go over these situations during the off season and then know what to do in crunch time?

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      3. gt –I once heard a Trojan friend describe Coach Tommy Prothro as an enigma —you never knew when his brilliance would shine. Coach Helton is no enigma…. you know just what you’ll get: a team that fights hard but often falls short, a team that seems to pick up on Helton’s intense fear of playing outside (what he himself calls) “the friendly confines of the coliseum” and a bunch of head scratcher time outs and goal line calls.

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      4. gt, I was like call TO, call TO…oh he’s gonna let the clock run out and not risk injuring another player. Wait, he called TO with 8 seconds. For what? My kids thought that I was going crazy.

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  3. Look we rank in the Top 5 of recruiting classes over the last 5 years. According to Helton, we have the best coaches . So the question i would ask is why are we unranked and have losses to BYU , Washington and Notre dame, our only big win at this point is Utah as our local rival destroyed a Stanford team .seems to me we are underacheivers.

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  4. Helton Asst coaches looked at NFL videos to help contain Arizona and people are praising this fine move. So since the start of Helton’s time as HC of USC this is the first time they’ve faced a mobile QB?? Talk about Coaches being proactive!! Wow!! If any problem should arise with Special Teams the coaches would seek out the correction?? How about Offensive/Defensive line help??? Player development?? Yes Helton would be on the video machine. Yes USC fans this team is in good hands !!

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  5. SCooter,

    More importantly, why hasn’t Helton fixed the offense. Slovis over throws, receivers drop the ball, and mismanagement. Simplify this mess and run simple power ball. Run the I formation 50% of the time. Put Stepps as tailback and #84 as a full back. It is stupid just to have #84 in on run plays. Where he is located limits his ability to block. If u put him in the I, then u can’t scout because u dont know where he is going. O linemen want to run block more than pass block.

    It was so incompetent last night, that SC did not get a first down until 2:34 left in the first quarter. Horrible

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  6. Helton has faced Khali Tate four times and have beaten him all four times. Why didn’t they look at film in July to get ready for this. They could have used this for BYU, wash., and Nd when the above was running all over SC.

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  7. Helton really needs to be fired. He just admitted to lol of us that he is only playing to win the South Division. He makes his coaches look at film for AZ and the schedule that will guarantee him winning the south. He should be wanting to win the north and south by having the best record. Horrible

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  8. CH said they took ND to the brink and beat the team tied for first in the Pac 12 South. He also said they’re 1-0 to start the second half of the season.

    That sounds like something Jr, from Smokey & the Bandit, would say.

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  9. My Gaaawwwd. First, Buddha is a misinformed idiot caught up in know-it-all simplistic diatribes based on emotion-based bias that contributes nothing.

    How does firing Helton mid-season help this extremely young team with a defense already projected to be one of the best in the country next year?

    Anyone notice the injuries at quarterback?

    Wait…in an effort to be fair, I have re-thought my position : let’s give Buddha the job. He has all of the answers that come from a brilliant college football blowhole.

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  10. Nansen lol Suckisian ‘s ex dealer watched tape sure and Pendy is to busy laughing somebody is actually paying him to be a lazy ass.
    They copied Washington blitzing Tate all game the week before that is all they did that and play a terrible Zona team

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  11. This is going to be my one and only comment on USC football, so here it goes. If it wasn’t for the fact that my son somehow decided to leave Virginia for LA to go to school, I wouldn’t even know there was a USC west of South Carolina. But his first request on getting admitted was some help paying for student season football tickets and, being a Dad that wants to have things in common to talk about with his son, I started following the Trojans last year.

    Unfortunately, I must say that I have never come across a bigger bunch of self-entitled crybabies than what I have seen of USC football followers. They even cheer against their own team in hopes of getting rid of the coach, a coach who, as far as I can tell from out here in Charlottesville, has incredible success as a recruiter, is admired by his players, is untainted by scandal, and whose only fault is that his team lost some football games. Come on, it’s a freakin’ game! Who cares! Less than a year later, is there anybody who knows, much less cares, whether it was Alabama or Clemson or Ohio who won the season last year? Get a life, ya’ll!

    I will admit I have watched this season with a grin fascination to see how the coach would do, given the pressure he has been under. In my estimation, he has so far proved to be a smashing success! With the exception of an overtime loss in the first road game by the second string quarterback the team is right in thet thick of it with some really good teams, beating one at home and losing by a field goal to Notre Dame on the road. How many coaches could put together a roster where they could beat top ten schools after losing two quarterbacks?

    What is most offensive, however, is that USC fans seem to want to damage the school as much as possible, just out of spite for the coach. It is mind boggling that they long to hire coaches of the most disreputable sort, whose history is to walk away from coaching gigs with the school embroiled in scandal and NCAA sanctions.

    Get a life! My son says it’s a great school, and I really enjoyed going out there with him to visit. Why get in such a snit about some football games? There is just so much more that USC offers, of so much more importance.

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    1. JB
      In my 44yrs since I left college I would be hard pressed to know two people who root against their alma mater. The vulgar anon. trolls here who do are JC wannabees who work at the donut shop. This blog is their only amusement in life. Some of these trolls couldn’t think their way out of a brown paper bag.
      Nobody around here seems to appreciate that the SC football program doesn’t have the NCAA crawling up SC’s ass like in the not so recent past. When a post shows up that seems to be overly positive re: SC then the trolls come out of the woodwork. Makes you wonder if in fact they attended SC. If they did, daddy got a raw deal with his tuition money.

      #Sad

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      1. Well, Cal the Univ. is getting corn-holed by its Strawberry dump FB Program!

        Cal is a spectacular 1 – 3 in 12’s no. conference.

        #Prortal on

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