Clay Helton's Wholesome Reaction To His Son's First College Touchdown

The cliché saying in the sport is "football is family." However, sometimes that's literally the case. 

Clay Helton is in his second season as Georgia Southern's head football coach. His team added a non-conference win over UAB to their resume last weekend, starting the season 2-0. After that kind of victory, Helton admits it's hard to wind down with so much adrenaline pumping through the veins. 

Thankfully, he still had some exciting football left to watch: his youngest son's first collegiate touchdown. 

Turner Helton is a redshirt freshman quarterback at Western Kentucky. He currently backs up preseason CUSA Offensive Player of the Year Austin Reed. His head coach is also Tyson Helton - Clay's brother. 

Before he ended his Saturday night, Clay Helton was sure to watch the tape of his son completing five passes on five attempts for 65 yards and a touchdown pass. Turner Helton stepped in when Reed was pulled after building a 45-22 lead in the fourth quarter against Houston Christian.

Coach Helton described seeing the moment during this week's Sun Belt Coaches Media Availability.

"Saturday night, I got to watch my youngest son get to spin the rock a little bit and play at the end of that game," he said. "I was not only a fan, I was a proud dad watching him throw his first touchdown as a college quarterback and get that moment. I don't who was more giddy, me or my wife Angela. But we we were both proud parents."

Tyson Helton has stated his pride not just in Turner Helton's development, but in how his nephew chose to come to Bowling Green over Statesboro to begin his college career.

"We won the recruiting battle," Tyson Helton said back in the spring of 2022, when Turner Helton arrived. "I beat my older brother. His own daddy."

The Helton family faces a pair of Big Ten tests on Saturday. Georgia Southern continues their season this weekend with a trip to Wisconsin. Western Kentucky travels to Columbus to play #4/#6 Ohio State.