FOOTBALL

USC Morning Buzz: Something Needs To Happen Today

USC cannot drag out the Clay Helton situation longer than today, can it?

Mike Bohn is back in town. The program looks weak by standing still Sunday while everyone else plans their futures.

Here’s what a member of the Board of Trustees told me Sunday night.

“I’ve had enough (of Clay Helton).”

But the trusteee added this: “I do not want USC to hire Urban Meyer.”

It’s important to remember trustees don’t usually have much say with football. But I do think Rick Caruso probably has weighed in with Carol Folt.

Anyways, this should be D-Day. Now we just need Bohn to do what he was hired to do.

36 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Something Needs To Happen Today”

  1. The BOT is a joke.
    Nikias.
    Med School 1.
    Med School 2.
    Tyndall.
    Firing Jim Ellis, the most productive administrator at SC, and the one who did the most promoting diversity.
    Wanda Austin, who will go down in SC history for saying “I like Clay Helton. He doesn’t drink, do drugs, or sleep around.”

    Hire Meyer if he is willing to work at SC.

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    3. Wanda, where was she from, Tennessee or somewhere? She was an embarrassment. “He doan DRANK, he doan SLEEP AROUND, like MY OLE HUZBAND dat good fuh nothin’ goddamn dawg! I need a two types of stiff ones just thinking about that mutha*****.”

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  2. question for you all. Would you take one more season of Helton to land Urban Meyer next year, or would you rather have someone like Luke Fickell or Matt Campbell right now?

    If Meyer was a for sure next season, that’s the option I would take.

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    1. I do not want Helton anymore. Period.

      Helton’s job status and performance doesn’t depend on any specific person. Helton sucks that much.

      #FireHeltonNow

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      1. Yes – Helton could have Caesar, Alexander, and Attila as coordinators and it wouldn’t matter…although it would be amusing to know what kind of thoughts they would have about this…

        Liked by 3 people

      2. You could spot Helton twenty points and he would still find a way to blow a game. That’s how bad of a coach he is.

        #FireHeltonYesterday,TodayAndTomorrow

        #IJustDon’tWantHeltonAroundTheProgramInAnyCapacity

        Liked by 2 people

  4. Nothing should come as a surprise. Viewing this in totality (back to Swann dismissal), it appears that we are only viewing the outward manifestations of the real battle behind the scenes among the largest boosters and their BoT proxies…

    Strongly suspect we are staring at the greatest wasted opportunity perhaps in the history of college football…and another year of incompetence sold to the public with grand pronouncements about a supposedly revamped staff (in short, Clancy and Baxter walk the plank, Gomer stays, whatever desperates that can be lured on the traditional USC football budget plan annointed as the latest greatest)…

    Compare this to what Herm is doing at ASU, or Hermann is doing at Texas…just to name a couple of prominent examples…

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    1. James, agree completely. I still think they will fire Helton, but not immediately. It should be today, but maybe not until the season is over, so that would mean they give up on 2020 recruiting.

      I don’t see any other explanation for the fact (i) that they keep letting rumors fly about him being fired, while (ii) sending him out to recruit, as GT22 points out.

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      1. At any sane location, none of this would make sense – at USC not making sense is situation normal…Helton being terminated is the big first step…I’m more concerned with losing the opportunity at Meyer than sacrificing a year due to administrative incompetence…and I get the sense they will keep him and try to band-aid it again then go about selling thin air to those willing to bite…we may have to see the entire thing burn down and these new proxy clowns to be replaced for this even has a chance of being fixed…but will be glad to blow a trumpet loudly (albeit badly) if wrong and they bestow a Meyer hiring gift on us…

        Liked by 3 people

  6. It’s all going according to plan, Max Nikias plan to De-Emphasize Trojan football.

    C.L. Max Nikias is still calling the shots at USC and that’s why you see the clusterf*ck that’s taking place.

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    1. The hypocrisy here is that some folks don’t want Urban because of his issues yet the school is willing to tolerate and still keep Nikias even with his issues with the med school and other scandals.

      In my opinion, you can’t act holier than thou and try to bar Urban Meyer while keeping on someone worse like Nikias. It’s a hypocritical stance.

      #IfNikiasIsStillHereThenUSCCanTotallyGoHireUrban

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      1. That’s exactly right! Carol Folt’s motto is “Excellence With Integrity”. If that’s the case then she needs to clean house, she can start by getting rid of Max Nikias followed by Steve Lopes, Tim Tessalone and the rest of the idiots in the athletic dept. that have been running USC athletics into the ground and into never ending legal hassle.

        Liked by 4 people

      2. You nailed it marvienna, Nikias is still with the University yet some BOT members have an issue with Meyer who didn’t hire one sexual deviant after another and cover up at least 2 more

        Liked by 4 people

      3. TO – she can fire Lopes, Tessalone, etc., but unfortunately she can’t fire Nikias – professor tenure. And he still has many supporters on the BOT.

        Liked by 1 person

  7. The silence from USC is, in a strange USC sort of way, not surprising…but the silence from the national media…you would think they would be salivating over this, particularly on a Monday morning…so any ideas on what this might portend? Are they trying to get their $#!+ story justifying retaining Helton in order? Trying to put together a one paragraph release announcing a national job search for what will yield yet another bottom shelf hire? Or, hope springs eternal, are they trying to get air time arranged to walk the man himself out for a grand entry?

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    1. People are saying it’s Gomer’s buyout, if they waited until today to can him the buyout would be much less.
      Bohn was out of town over the weekend, you can speculate as to why, could have been as innocent as the holidays.
      The SI report could have been BS, SC was pretty pissed about it, but it wasn’t the AD who refuted it, it was an underling
      Gomer’s out recruiting on Sunday, odd if he’s going to be canned.

      After what happened yesterday, why has USC not had he AD or Folt come out and say ” Gomer’s our guy ” or at least issued an official statement ?

      It’s what USC is these days, a fucking mess. All signs seem to point to Gomer being canned, but who knows anymore.

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      1. karma —New York Times: Folt and Bohn have gone silent cuz they’ve both resigned.
        #HeltonHasBeenLeftInCharge…..
        #…OfEverything….

        Liked by 3 people

    2. James — As to that last sentence: If Only!
      #MakeItUrbanMeyer
      #USCFootball…
      #BackInAFlash
      #[OrIsThatTooObviousAPathForASchoolScaredOfIt’sOwnShadow]?

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      1. But do you get what I mean about the strange (almost political if you follow) silence in the national media? What could account for that? Not just waiting – the press in this day doesn’t do that…is USC even more filthy rich and connected than we know (and we know a lot) so as to be able to muzzle negative stories to that extent?

        Liked by 1 person

      2. James —There is an answer to your question….but it’s depressing: USC fuck ups aren’t news anymore. Back when Mike Tyson was champ he’d do or say something crazy every day —finally everybody got tired covering and/or reading about it….
        #IThinkThat’sWhereUSCFootballIsAt

        Liked by 1 person

  8. James, always a challenge to try to rationalize irrational behavior. But as you point out, this is SC…

    The initial SI story yesterday claiming Helton had been fired quoted “multiple sources”, which I am inclined to believe. The SI reporter who published the story is not a rookie.

    Plus, SC’s denial was incredibly weak. SC shouldn’t be pissed off at SI, they should be upset with themselves for how they are handling this, and that at least 2 people within athletics chose to leak inside info. But this is what happens when mistakes are made.

    Plus, the response from SC denying all of this was weak. I am guessing that Bohn wants to fire Helton, but that Folt is on the fence.

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    1. Or Folt is being put on the fence like a taffy pull by the BOT/boosters behind the scene? There’s now way Bohn wants to keep Helton – probably would have fired him almost immediately upon arrival if he truly had independent authority…so this is going to go back to the $ people…and at any other school with a program of this type, this would all be a done deal…but it is USC…to paraphrase the Schoolhouse Rock jingle, “USC junction, what’s your dysfunction? F’ing up hires and pissing off the fanbase…USC junction, what’s your dysfunction?”

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      1. Just read on another Board that the speculation it’s Franklin coming to USC, so a coach who wanted a women not to report a rape by one of his players is OK but Meyer, who tried to get the women help isn’t ?

        If it is Franklin, USC just fucked the pooch

        Liked by 3 people

  9. Exactly as we all dreaded/expected…and if it’s him (I’ve seen people suggest him before and just shake my head), in classic USC dysfunctional fashion: let’s hire the guy who lost to Gomer in the Rose Bowl even though his offense scored 7 consecutive TDs…

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  10. BK, spot on, if they hire Franklin, the idea that Meyer doesn’t pass the morals test is baloney.

    If they can’t/won’t hire Meyer, I’d think that a guy like Matt Rhule would be a much better hire than Franklin. Baylor went from 1-11 to 11-1 in 2 years, maybe 3.

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    1. Agree 67, Rhule is a better choice than Franklin. Rhule also took Temple from 2-10 to 10-4 in 2 years

      I’ve even read that USC wants Orgeron, why would he come back to a place that fucked him over so bad ?

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      1. Wolf was dead on right to glorify in EdO twisting the knife in by adding Marcus to JRob on the sideline…I hope they’re there when he wins the title game this year, and Pete gives him the call in the locker room…

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      2. BK, is there anyone over there who is a clear thinker? They kicked Orgeron to the curb. As you note, why would he want to come back?

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  11. Guys like Caruso/Tessalone/Nikias are part of the “establishment” problem. If Bohn blows this by drinking the Mr. nice guy Gomer Kool-Aid then we’re simply screwed. Additionally If Folt bases an anti Meyer stance based on past histrionics, then by keeping Max around, she’s as big a hypocrite as anyone.
    Based on the approx 70/30 overall positivity towards replacing CCH with Meyer.. I seriously doubt that Bohn has the balls to step in and continue with Gomer! To me, it’s like hey Mike, what are all those redeeming factors in Claydough’s tenure that makes you think we can meet your edict to play for and win championships? urggg

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    1. Just got up in Maui. What a great discussion above. Although nobody’s said it in so many words, it seems the consensus is: USC is being “led” by a hopelessly confused collection of weak people—-meaning people who will the end (championships) but not the means (Urban Meyer). When the first words out of our sweet little President’s mouth on the subject of who’ll be USC’s next Head Football Coach are, “I just want somebody real moral and full of integrity!” —you know you’re in for a supernaturally fucked up selection process. Has ANYONE EVER heard ANY other university president talk such Pollyanna bullshit when asked who she’s looking for to take over a once thriving but now failing program? James mentioned Attila and Alexander the Great —the name that comes to my mind when I hear President Folt talk about the search for a new football coach is Eris —Goddess of Chaos.

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