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USC Morning Buzz: Does Anyone Care Clay Helton Is Back?

Does anyone care Clay Helton is returning to the Coliseum this weekend?

When USC scheduled Georgia Southern, it seemed like an interesting angle. Especially because USC was supposed to face Lane Kiffin the week before.

But the USC-Mississippi game got canceled and Georgia Southern got routed by Fresno State, 42-14, last weekend. It looks like a second straight boring blowout to begin the season.

I was probably Helton’s biggest critic in the media but his return to USC seems anti-climatic. Maybe if Coach Bohn were still around, it might have made things more interesting this week. But I doubt it.

The fact is USC has replaced its former bland coach with a new bland coach, who has also struggled.

  • USC charged $50 to park on campus for last weekend’s football game. Last year, it was $40.
  • Ron Heller, a halfback on the 1962 national championship USC football team, died Tuesday. He had been suffering from dementia since 2017.

Heller scored what turned out to be the game-winning TD in the 1963 Rose Bowl, as the 25-yard touchdown run gave the Trojans a 42-14 lead before Wisconsin mounted a furious comeback.

Heller also scored the only TD on a 19-yard run in USC’s 7-0 upset of No. 6-ranked Iowa that season.

One of his best games was the 1964 season-opener vs. Colorado, when he rushed for 82 yards in 12 carries as USC won, 21-0.

He came to USC from Santa Monica College, where he was a JC All-American and played with future Trojans Jay Clark and Gary Kirner. He was also recruited by UCLA and Fresno State but as a teen, he sold newspapers at the Coliseum on USC game days and became a fan of the Trojans.

USC assistant coach Marv Goux asked Heller in 1962 if he wanted become a member of the Screen Actors Guild, which led to roles as extras in several Elvis Presley movies. He also appeared in an episode of “Daniel Boone.”

Ron Heller in the 1963 Rose Bowl.

46 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Does Anyone Care Clay Helton Is Back?”

  1. What an awful disease, and one that medical science has yet to make substantial progress on.

    $50 parking at the coli…my youngest son is off to college in three weeks, and I asked him if he wanted to go to this Saturday’s game in person, he declined, saying that getting a good seat just wasn’t worth it, given that the competition was Georgia Southern and the guy “who ruined USC football.”

    I replied, saying, “Several had their hand in that action. Including Sark, Kiff, Haden, Swann, …”

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    1. 67—Did you see Coach Riley’s post practice interview yesterday? He said he’s in frequent contact with PAT HADEN. Who knew?

      Good luck to your youngest son in the world of academia [luckily, he has a great Dad to help him keep his priorities straight —wish all college kids were so fortunate]!

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      1. Hi Pasadena!

        Thanks so much, he is very excited. He was dead set to stay in California for college, but we went to tour the University of Chicago, and he somehow felt that was the right place for him. He was fortunate to be admitted, something like 2,400 out of 45,000 were admitted. It is also a college that respects individuals and civil liberties.

        He went to a small private high school in Santa Barbara called Laguna Blanca.

        Thank you for your kind words.

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      2. trojan1967,

        I read below, that U of Chicago is up there with Stanford in terms of academics. A very good and tight school. Almost the Stanford of the Midwest. Suggestion, buy him boots, inside leggins for the boots, thermals, layers of shirts and jersies. It gets freaking cold. I am from the Midwest, Missouri and lived in Michigan during the winter. Negative -20 degrees is the norm. My daugther went to Emerson in boston and bought her very good boots and she was very thankful that her toes did not freeze. The feet determine how you deal with the cold. If your feet are cold or wet, then you will be miserable. God Bless. If he survives the first winter, then he will be okay. If not, then UCSB or Stanford are waiting.

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      3. Hi Pasadena,

        Yes, it is a very academic school, which is what he was looking for.

        And you are 110% right about the winters. I lived for four years in Minneapolis, and it does get rough. The good news is that the new materials and fabrics developed recently are so effective. Gloves, waterproof and insulated boots, layering, hat to protect the ears, etc. are an absolute necessity.

        We visited the campus when it was snowing, windy, and upper 20s, but as you know, that is a far cry from the lowest temps and the wind off of Lake Michigan coming at you.

        But he is over the top fired up about it, so we are all happy for him and fingers crossed, he will get through the winter.

        Here’s to hoping that Riley can pull it off this season. Despite the opponent last Saturday, there seems to be so much talent on this team that maybe, just maybe, this season will be a success.

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      4. trojan1967,

        Very happy for your son. I am sure you are beaming from one side to the other and you are very proud of him. Great job and thank you for sharing. I lived in Mt. Clemon’s Michigan, just north of Detroit and on the lake front area. I was five years old and in February I had enough of the cold. I told my dad, either move to CA or I am running away. I knew at 5 years old it was stupid to live in the cold.

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  2. Ron Heller suffered from dementia. I’m surprised every football player doesn’t have some degree of this disease as a result of years of head pounding

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      1. Correction. Going out for Spring practice and being a blocking dummy does not make me a football player. I just couldn’t wrap my head around this legalized violence, and returned to Fraternity Football where I could be someone

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  3. Helton thinking: ‘I still don’t get my due from Trojan fans, and yet the guy they have now needs to beat me Saturday to be able to tie my record.

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      1. Georgia Southern lost to Fresno State 42 to 14. Fresno State was crushed by Kansas. It follows that Georgia Southern is likely a horrible football team along the lines of Missouri State. A question arises as to how playing these creampuffs prepares your team for Illinois and Michigan. Answer – it doesn’t.

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      2. We won’t be battle tested….but, at least, we should be healthy….

        #ThenWeGetAByeBeforeMichiganBackInTheColi

        [Note: Illinois won’t be all that much more battle tested than us —Duke, Western Michigan and Indiana]…..

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  4. The topic is does anybody care that Helton is returning to play at the Coliseum?

    Yes, the lookey-loos who slow down to check out the wreck on the other side of the freeway cannot wait for the Helton disaster

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  5. The beauty of Wolf moving from one topic to another in whirlwind fashion is that we immediately forget the insults from the prior segment

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  6. Thanks to Helton I would never have known that a ‘Georgia Southern’ existed

    Helton thinking: “That shellacking by Fresno St played perfectly with my plan to have SC loafing in the beginning so I can hold them to 50

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    1. I think we can safely assume USC won’t be loafing…. everybody on both sides of the ball looked pretty hungry to make a name for himself last Saturday regardless of the competition….

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      2. I believe they have to wait until Saturday, John…. until then….

        #….WeAllLoveGettingOurTwoCentsIn

        #[ScottNeedsUs…Don’tLetHimDown,’Kay?]….

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  7. Couldn’t find any info on Ron Heller other than his SC stats. He didn’t quite make it to Rav’s 88, but Heller would have been 82 or 83. What did he do with his life for 60-years after graduating SC?

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    1. He was 85 years old. He worked on and off as a real estate appraiser, but was mostly a ski bum and lived year-round in Ketchum and Hailey. He had a brief stint with the 1966 Packers (100 yard kickoff return in a pre-season game) before being the last player cut; free agent with the Chiefs the following year, was picked up on waivers by San Diego, and cut again; brief stint with the B.C. Lions in the CFL before wrecking knee, and that was it for a professional career. Closest teammate friends were Larry Sagouspe, Ken Del Conte, Jay Clark, Craig Fertig, Tom Lupo and Mac Byrd. He maintained a long friendship over the years with Jerry Kramer and also Paul Hornung. Used to play pickup hoops at Jim Brown’s house with Brown and Marvin Gaye during his senior year at USC.

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  8. Helton thinking: Here in Savannah I got a real river racing through town, none of that L.A. river stuff. And we have shade trees, not those skinny palm trees brought in from Australia. Oh, and folks down here still say “Sir” and “Ma’am”

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    1. Sounds SO much like the life I experienced for 25 years in Downtown Los Angeles…… every single day filled with courtesy and kindness….

      #…AllHumanInteractionsSpringingOutOfLoveForMankind….

      #…Ah….GoodMemories

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      1. …..and become an ordained minister —mainly performing weddings for Georgia’s wealthiest couples ….

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  9. That ’63 Rose Bowl game ended in the fog. I could barely see what was going on.

    The ’62 team had many JC all americans,as McKay energized the team out of a great need,’cause his high school players were still developing,although Pete Beathard,Bill Nelson, and Willie Brown were veteran seniors.

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    1. I remember USC scoring before my Dad and I even got inside the Rose Bowl….. we heard the loud cheer and we knew USC already put 6 on the board….

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  10. Losing Trojans left & right these days. I met Ron Heller many times being a good friend of my cousin while at Hamilton Highschool. My cousin passed away a couple of months ago in Northern California, both were 85 yrs. old. Heller was a tough son of a gun even away from football. Gary Kirner also went to Hamilton High while I was there. ’63 Rose Bowl was quite a game with wild finish and no lights.

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  11. I hope Helton is not booed. He was a good man, put in a bad position by Haden. He tried. Was in over his head yes but made more big time bowls than any coach since Pete (amazing isnt it ?) The program needed an adult in the room at the time and he was it.

    USC was in a bad spot well before Helton became coach.

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