FOOTBALL

USC Morning Buzz: Clay Helton Created A Rivalry With Cal

Clay Helton said Tuesday night “obviously any time you play a Justin Wilcox team you know the defense is going to be extremely well-coached.”

Really?

Then why did Helton fire Wilcox as soon as the 2015 season ended?

I wasn’t a fan of Wilcox at USC but I’m not a coach like Helton. And I didn’t work with Wilcox like Helton did. So if Wilcox was so great, why didn’t he consider keeping him?

Oh, I forgot. He needed to hire Clancy Pendergast. And John Baxter for special teams.

Wilcox remembers getting fired. He told the Cal team before last year’s game how big a deal it would be to beat USC.

He will no doubt say something similar this week.

“This is like a bowl game for Wilcox,” said a coach who worked with Helton and Wilcox.

  • USC fundraising has suffered because of the recent scandals but the university is getting a $261 million donation after the Lord Corp., a Cary, N.C., manufacturing company, closed its $3.68 billion sale last month to Parker Hannifin Corp.

Duke, MIT and the Cleveland Clinic will also get $261 million each.

  • USC sent out a letter to students late Tuesday warning about the effects of mixing opiods and alcohol. The university is investigating this as a possible cause of some of the nine student deaths since August.

“We need you to be aware of the dangers posed by drug use. In particular, we want you to be informed about the dangers of abusing opioids. The effects of alcohol mixed with these drugs can be fatal. In addition to the direct effects of each substance, drugs shared for recreational use can be mixed with other substances to increase its effects, sometimes without a user’s knowledge. This practice is rising and is linked to overdose and death.”

35 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Clay Helton Created A Rivalry With Cal”

    1. Young people don’t really want to die when they do dumb things —but sometimes they don’t get a chance to learn from their mistakes. Everybody on this blog got that chance.
      #ShowALittleSympathy

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      1. Sorry bud but these kids have the dangers of this type of activity pounded into their heads constantly, they’ve seen a lot of their ” idols ” die from doing the same thing, mixing drugs and alcohol is stupid and sometimes you pay the ultimate price, is it sad, yep.

        Liked by 2 people

    2. Since the “Magic Man” Bohn is our AD, HC Helton is poised to win the pac-12 championship and the National championship. You’ll need to get off his back!

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  2. Too late, Scott. YOU turned Helton against Wilcox with all your comical photos of Justin giving the “choke” sign on the sidelines. Deep, deep (deep) down, Helton wants to please you and, someday (although “someday” will have to be within the next 2 weeks if it’s gonna happen in this lifetime), win you over. That’s why Helton let Wilcox go —he thought it would make you happy.
    #AndWe’veBeenPayingThePriceEverSince….
    #AcceptResponsibility,Scott

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  3. Pendergast and Baxter were forced on Helton by Haden. Haden foolishly believed that he could pick and choose and approve which assistants the HC should hire. Haden always believed he knew better than everyone else.

    Still, it could have gone either way because if Helton was left to pick all of the assistants on his own, he might have picked the DC and ST equivalents of Neil Callaway or some other subpar coach he’s picked up through the years.

    #HadenWasImpressedWithPendergastFrom2013EspeciallyTheStanfordWin

    #Still,FireHelton(AndPendergastAndBaxter)

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      1. I don’t know what happens to Harrell seeing as Haden was gone when Harrell was hired. I think Bohn hires his HC and gives HC full control to pick who the HC wants as assistants instead of allowing the meddling that Heritage Hall has been known for.

        #UrbanCanPickWhoeverTheHellHeWants

        #DelRioCanPickWhoeverTheHellHeWants,Too

        #Now,WillHeritageHallPickUrbanOrDelRio?

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      2. Prediction: USC delves into Harrell’s “domestic” background, is pleased with results….and hires him over Meyer or Del Rio…

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      1. The funny things is Pendergast didn’t want to come back to USC. He was desperately trying to find an NFL DC job but couldn’t land one. That’s why his announcement of being rehired didn’t come until mid-January.

        #JustOneNFLDCJob

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  4. A rivalry between Cal and USC has existed for a long time. In fact Cal and Stanford banded together once to boot USC out of the conference. Justin Wilcox was a terrible coach or Helton held him back, I’m not sure him)which. Why is it Helton brings out the worst in people. Is he ,masquerading as an angel of light? What a devil of a time he will have when he runs out of excuses and gets bottled (because canning is too good for

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    1. You may have something there, Rialto. Wilcox was great at Wisconsin …and he’s resurrected Cal. The only place he couldn’t get it done was on Helton’s staff.
      I like “bottling” idea. That’s what you’re supposed to with warlocks and witches —ever see “I Married A Witch”?
      #Helton’sEssenceSecuredInJugOnTheMantel

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    2. Well the blog worked its magic on the last sentence. I cannot explain how- “him)” got in the middle of the sentence “I’m not sure which” instead of the end of the post where it belongs, but nothing boggles my mind anymore.

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  5. Steve Sarkisian’s horrible offense made Justin Wilcox’s defense look horrible, because they stayed on the field most of the game. But as usual, Clay Helton was too much of an idiot to recognize that.

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  6. What I’ll always remember about Haden is the picture of him rushing down from the box upstairs to defend Sark from the referees during one game on national TV. It was total silly. Control freak.

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    2. My “best” memory of him is collapsing on the sidelines at South Bend Indiana. Yes Indiana, a state Haden said he would never go back to because of their stance on gays, I guess it was too much for his heart, or was it the Scotch ?

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      1. No —it was not the scotch, karma. Pat actually couldn’t stand under the weight of the state’s sins…..
        #IReadAboutStuffJustLikeThisHappeningInTheOldTestament
        #PatCouldFeelPresenceOfEvil100MilesAway…

        Liked by 1 person

      3. gt –It’s going to be SO cool when we don’t have to read anymore about coaches being fired mid game or getting into fights at halftime or screaming drunk at USC events or A.D.s falling down on the sidelines or charging for autographs…..
        #TheLast10YearsHaven’tBeenNormal…
        #&It’sTakenATollOnEverybodyWatching

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  7. Pat Haden is the evil. Or drunk and evil. Take your pick. Also, would be good to see what happens to revenue after we hire Urban Meyer:

    www3.forbes.com/business/college-footballs-most-valuable-teams-2019/9/

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    1. Professur
      Sure seems that is the way the spin is going. There but for the grace of God go a lot of college students. Hopefully a proactive campaign puts the skids on the deaths.
      Mule should be in charge of passing out flyers.

      #HisExperienceHandingOutFreeUglyTicketsOnColoradoBlvdIsInvaluable

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  9. The rivalry has always been huge. Contrary to what SW claims, it’s not something CH created. That’s why when we split into two divisions, we required that Stanford & Cal would always be on our schedule and not rotate, as we do with the other 4 schools in the North division.

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