FOOTBALL

USC Hires Clay McGuire As Offensive Line Coach

USC has hired Clay McGuire of Texas State as its new offensive line coach.

I’m sure he is a competent coach but it kind of makes you see again how things are different at USC vs. Alabama or frankly even Notre Dame.

McGuire is an Air Raid expert so that’s good. But as I’ve said before, how successful did his teams run the ball? Does USC care if it can run the ball? Did Mike Leach?

36 thoughts on “USC Hires Clay McGuire As Offensive Line Coach”

  1. A pair of Clays? Feet of Clay. Clay block. Put Helton in the kiln and fire him.
    Texas State? Did they play this year.

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  2. How many first-rate programs poach Texas State for coaching talent?

    Not to mention that the Arkansas O-line coach turned the job down last week.

    Folt and the BOT are happy to let the football program die slowly. The worst of this is they are not honest about their preferences.

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    1. Just read a short bio on Coach McGuire and he doesn’t sound too bad. I will qualify my own statement in that I am an eternal optimist- for the most part- so take this with a grain of salt.
      Turns out he is a former running back ( H- back) who has coached RBs, special teams, and the OL. He has produced some good OL (Two All- Americans) and has been good at bettering the run game of the various teams that he has coached on (one example, doubling the yards per carry average on one team). Lastly, he has a Masters Degree in Education (hey, hey). Not a big name, but anything is a step up from Drevno and he has a lot of Texas connections to boot.

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      1. Hope you’re right, my bud. I worry when we grab a guy who’s part of an offense averaging something like 370 a game (USC was averaging roughly 420 with Drevno).
        #ICanTellYouNowThisIsn’tGonnaExciteRecruits

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  3. Thanks Caruso and Madame woke President.
    Uninspiring hire but still upgrade compared to last two fired OL coaches.

    Rams likely to pick Joe Barry as DC per my sources in TO.

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  4. Put some one as a FULL BACK to F in BLock for the Running Backs. ..so you can have A Running Game. ..When you a Weak offensive line. … but gomer HE’LL Ton has Head up his A o. Making him look like a PEe Wee football coach. ..

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  5. It will always make me shake my head in disbelief that Clay Helton who played for the SEC’s Auburn Tigers while growing up with a dad who played Center at Florida and later became an offensive line coach who had stops with the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Gators among others, also had stops in the NFL with Redskins, Raiders, Buccaneers, Oilers. He’s got credit or respect to have coached so many places and levels of the game so how does Clay Helton become the biggest wimpiest softest coach that USC has had?
    How do u not have everything you ever heard or seen from dad’s OLine practices or coaching sessions in your holster ????????

    Helton should be ashamed to say his father played and coached the OLIne and USC can’t run the ball or block.

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    2. I hear ya, Sam, but not all good coaches have to be from a big time program. Heck, the Chargers just hired their HC and the guy was coaching at like a JC just 5 years ago- and not a real re known JC either. This Coach McGuire has a Masters Degree in Education so they guy can comunícate, deliver digestible information, and break things down.

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      1. Well, I just listened to our new o-line coach on YouTube —and you might just be right, Arturo. He’s real sharp and seems like the kind of guy you’d wanna play hard for. We might have lucked out with this hire.

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      3. I should be clear none of my comments are a negative towards the new hire. To be honest I don’t have a thing to say about him because I don’t know a thing about him and don’t care to for the hopes that he simply surprises me with an upgrade performance.
        But my comment was more on the overall failure of Helton in an area that should be familiar to him and a priority with pops there his whole life. I mean if my dad is a space engineer or rocket scientist at Nasa then I at least should win the science fair at school. Helton has to be getting ready to coach his last season. The team is not gonna sniff the top 10 next year. Look at all the players entering the draft or portal. Looks like a rebuilding season with the goal of hoping to accomplish that we get a new coach and the 1st year starters get the experience to mature at seasons end into players who “get it” and didn’t just get experience but got better each week. I’d love to be wrong and win a National Championship or make a strong turn to a playoff team but that looks difficult with all the weapons leaving. Believe me that I hate speaking about my Trojans not playing good football but we got some serious problems ahead.

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  6. Helton and Harrell appear to go “all-in” on the air raid offense with this hire. How are they going to solve the rushing problem?

    I would think that the one hope is if they let Jaxson Dart compete for starting QB and then use his mobility to add a running element that is otherwise missing.

    Kenon Christon’s dad responds negatively to Coach Jinks comments on his weight. Markese Stepp leaves the program.

    The defense is on the right path with TO, but I just dont see the offense on a good path. I see TO as interim head coach at some point next year, just a guess.

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    1. It is imperative that SC get Kenan Christon as many touches as possible. Kenan is faster than Adoree Jackson who created so much excitement and who energized the OL because all he needed was a brush block. If you want to get the most out of the OL, get Christon the ball and the OL will respond. A RB like Christon can make an OL better.

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      1. Christon has been on the team for 2 years and is averaging 4 carries per game. I wouldn’t blame him if he entered the portal. Program is dying, and all Clay cares about is getting as many years at $5 mill per year as he can.

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      2. I like Christon a lot too. The guy is lightning in a bottle which the team hasn’t had since Adoree- even though Adoree played CB. The good news is that Kenan is fresh hasn’t suffered any injuries that have derailed some of the other RBs and will look to have a big year since it could springboard him in the NFL draft in 2022.

        Liked by 2 people

      3. I’d like it if USC used Kenan more the way New Orleans used Reggie — get him past the line of scrimmage with a 10 yard pass — he’d take it from there…….

        Liked by 1 person

  7. So the new Clay was a line coach at WSU ? Remind me when the WSU offense dominated a defense? Oh I remember except for when Monte Kiffin was defensive coordinator and USC couldn’t stop the pass they never have.

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  8. It’s a surprise to no one that USC couldn’t even land a decent D1 OL coach. This is the new standard at USC, anyone who thinks different is as delusional as the outgoing prez.

    #goodbyeorangeman

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    1. Cal75,

      I agree about the oline coach. As long as SC runs the air raid and as long as helton is here, SC will fall to the bottom of the barrel.

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  9. Another average hire who will follow orders on the inept Air Raid offense that can rack up passing yardage, and that is about it. Pac 12 defenses will catch up even further in 2021 with the air raid offense which is a gimmick at best, and definitely does not work in big games especially with no running games. I feel sorry for him as both Harrell and Helton will be gone after next season so he basically moved his family for a temporary job at best.

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      1. When it comes to our coaches, notice how nobody ever says “auditioning for the NFL” anymore?
        #NotQuiteLikeItUsedToBe…

        Liked by 1 person

  10. This guy is a joke. They should have stuck with Tim Drevno. It’s starting to look like they don’t care if they run the ball or if they challenge for a national championship. We’ll just run a Mike Leach offense, go 8-4 or 7-5 and then go and lose in the idiot bowl and then just hope that because the offense can be fairly potent(passing-wise), people won’t notice that we are finishing 2nd or 3rd in the Pac-12 south.

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    1. Under Folt, the famed football program is a social work project. This fits with the PAC-12 strategy to choreograph all football games as shoot outs until the very last minute of each game for TV ratings. You score, then the opponent is allowed to score, then you again, then them again, and so on. Both exciting and boring at the same time. This is why every year USC has the most penalties. They are over penalized to keep their opponents in the games. The opponents can use their hands, SC cannot, etc. The ideal PAC-12 game is 50-49 score. This makes for “social justice” and equalizing. Kind of like national elections. It’s legal but it is a puppet show. Don’t look behind the curtain of the voting booth or the instant replay.

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  11. I’m having this bad nightmare repeatedly. MG resembles Atticcus Finch(Cal man Gregory Peck) & the Cheeze-it Bowl replaces the Rose Bowl for the Pac-12.

    #AndFU&OwnsHookUp
    #AndCoachHeltonGetsAContractExtensionYeeHaw

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    1. You SC faithful ought to give the guy a chance for Pete’s same.(see what I did there?)

      My football knowledge might be slim however, I have to believe that if the coaches believed SC could run the ball, they would.

      #YouPlayTheHandYou’reDealt.
      #EndOfSermonette
      #LongLiveAtticusFinch

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  13. Cal75,

    It is not a matter of gving the guy a chance, it has to deal iwht Helton, Harrel, Dolt, and Bohn running an inferior program that SC fans are accustomed to. It is in SC’s DNA to run power and stuff the ball down the opponent’s throat. Helton has taken this away and has tried to change the culture to being a pass happy offense. This won’t win games. When SC is in a dog fight, you want to know SC can run the ball and control the game like they used to in the 70’s, 80’s, and 2000’s. This offense is a slap in the face to all of the great players that played on offense and helped Charlie White run wild on CAL. Sorry I brought that up. But you don’t win heisman’s or championships by throwing the ball 70% of the time.

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    1. PasaT
      You play the hand you are dealt. Everything you mentioned was similar to Bill Walsh west coast offense when the miners went that route. All you need is screens, backs as receivers and tight ends to help the air raid and a two deep defense.😁

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