USC Fires Head Football Coach Clay Helton
After a disappointing defeat to start conference play for the Trojans, Athletics Director Mike Bohn formally announced that the school had fired Head Coach Clay Helton Thursday.
In his seven seasons at Southern Cal, Helton posted a 46-24 overall record for the Trojans, going 36-13 in conference. He was fired after their second game of the season when the team lost 42-28 at home to an unranked Stanford team.
Helton led USC to three Pac-12 South three titles, but was only able to win the Pac-12 championship once in 2017. He also won the Rose Bowl in that same year.
After 2017, he was never able to replicate that success. Posting a 5-7 record in 2018, 8-5 in 2019, and going 5-1 last season before a disappointing defeat in the Conference Championship to a 4-3 Oregon team in Los Angeles.
Taking over for Helton is Donte Williams.
Oregon fans will remember that name as he was a former member of the Oregon coaching staff. He is well known for being a fantastic recruiter.
He was the top recruiter in the Pac-12 for the Ducks and he led Oregon to the Pac-12's best recruiting class in 2020. He was crucial in the recruitment of current Oregon stars like linebacker Justin Flowe, who hails from Upland in Southern California's San Bernardino County.
Williams left Oregon in 2020 to join the USC coaching staff.
According to 247sports, Williams is listed as the third-best recruiter in all of college football for the 2022 recruiting cycle.
USC dropped out of SI All-American's top 25 2022 recruiting classes at the beginning of August. One of the Trojans' top commits Domani Jackson, was one of the most highly sought after prospects in the entire country before his commitment and is ranked the No. 3 cornerback by SI All-American.
USC clearly has a lot of work to do if they want to re-establish themselves as playoff contenders, and Williams will have to do his best to get this program jump started after a rough start to the season.
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