USC Football Coach Fired After Week 2

When thinking about college football and coaching, you wouldn’t expect a head coach to be fired after only 2 games of the regular season. But that’s what happened to University of Southern California’s head coach Clay Helton. After their 42-28 loss on Saturday against Stanford, the athletic director’s office decided that they didn’t like the direction that USC football was taking, so firing Helton was the solution for that problem. 

This was Helton’s 7th year as head coach of the Trojans. He was going into this season with a 46-24 record for his 6+ year stint as Head Coach. USC made it all the way to the Pac-12 Championship Game last year, but ultimately lost to Oregon. 

Helton has been on the coaching staff at USC since 2010, where he acted as the quarterback coach and offensive coordinator. He held the position as interim head coach twice before being given the position of full-time head coach in 2016. 

Rocky seasons in 2018 and 2019 put USC in a questioning position. The team was showing promise this season, but the loss to Stanford confirmed that the program needed to take a new direction in the coaching staff. 

Helton is the third head coach in USC history to be fired during the regular season. As of 2013, USC had never done this at all, but since then “Lane Kiffin, Sarkisian and Helton were all fired within the first six weeks of their respective final seasons,” (CBS Sports). This era of USC instability will just continue to grow if USC doesn’t find a promising head coach fast. 

"I want to be exceptionally clear: our university and its leadership are committed to winning national championships and restoring USC football to glory," said USC Athletic Director Mike Bohn. “I accept the enormous responsibility I have to our current and former players and the entire Trojan Family to live up to our incredible heritage,” (CBS Sports). The USC football team has been working toward a national championship title since 2004, the last time they won one. Maybe this shift in coaching staff will be just what the Trojans need in order to reach that goal and regain national relevance. 

Senior Petra Brown gave her opinion about the firing by stating that she thinks “it’s good that they got him out early, especially if they believe that he is going to bring the team in the wrong direction.” Brown shares an opinion with many other USC fans about the firing, many saying that it was about time that Helton left the program. 

USC’s cornerback coach Donte Williams holds the position as interim head-coach for the time being.