Remember last year, USC was going to be successful because it followed the Brian Kelly model? Even Clay Helton made the comparison because Kelly had fired 17 staff members and Notre Dame went 4-8 in 2016, won 10 games in 2017 and bounced back to go 12-1 and make the College Football Playoff in 2018. It didn’t quite work out that way. But this year, … Continue reading Have You Noticed How Every Year The Model Changes For Clay Helton?

USC wants people to know it tried to hire Dave Aranda as CBS Sports mentioned yesterday. “We were all set to have him. We matched LSU’s deal,” a USC source said in the story. That means Aranda would take a pay cut since his $2.5 million gets a lot less in Southern California than Baton Rouge. Someone with close connections to the LSU program weighed … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Last Word On Dave Aranda

When I think about Clay Helton firing 13 assistant coaches, it reminds me when Rams coach John Robinson fired six assistant coaches after the 1990 season. Robinson fired every defensive coach except one: defensive line coach Marv Goux. I always wondered about that so a few years later I asked Goux why Robinson didn’t fire him? Goux laughed and said, “John couldn’t fire me.” I … Continue reading Not Every Coach Fires Every Assistant

Some USC supporters are so starved for positive news that they are celebrating today the fact the football program hired a graphic design manager! And they stole him from Oregon! Well, he graduated from USC in 2017, so I’m not sure it took much to “steal” him from Oregon. It’s great USC wants to hire a graphic designer. But these are window-dressing moves. The people … Continue reading USC Is Hiring Support Staff, So Renew Your Season Tickets!

One thing to remember when you read a Clay Helton that describes him as “gentlemanly” or a decent man of character: Helton has fired 13 assistant coaches at USC. That is not the work of a man of character. If you want to sympathize with Helton over the fact there was a false report he was being fired, just remember he has actually fired 13 … Continue reading Does A Man Of Character Fire 13 People?

Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports has written a lengthy piece on USC coach Clay Helton, that will probably upset some fans who are tired of Helton. The part that bugged me is probably different than most because it says Helton did an interview with Dodd on Signing Day, when he refused to do a press conference but did a friendly interview on the “Trojans Live” … Continue reading Clay Helton Rehabilitation Tour Begins