Will USC Fire Clay Helton This Week After The BYU Loss?
Will USC Fire Clay Helton This Week After The BYU Loss?
Will USC Fire Clay Helton This Week After The BYU Loss?
Will USC fire Clay Helton this week after the BYU loss?
They just might.
Helton, 47, looked to have a new lease on life last week after a surprisingly impressive victory over Stanford.
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One week later, the Stanford win is meaningless after they were blown out again by UCF and USC was walloped by BYU 30-27.
The big story in last weekend’s outing against Stanford was the emergence of quarterback Kedon Slovis.
This week, against BYI, Slovis came back down to earth. He threw for two touchdowns and 281 yards – but also recorded three interceptions.
His final interception came on the last play of the game.
Helton, for his part, tried to dismiss the significance of the defeat after the game.
#FireClayHelton is trending in Los Angeles and nationwide.#USC https://t.co/XMRpLWtpPE pic.twitter.com/ruTMqiZ91f
— USC Psycho (@uscpsycho) September 15, 2019
“This is a nonconference game early in the season,” he said.
“We don’t worry about noise,” Helton added.
“We live in Los Angeles, California. There’s a ton of damn noise. It’s every day. What we have to focus on is doing our job, winning the next game.”
The problem for Helton is that things are not going to get any easier.
Next up for USC is No. 11 Utah, who dispatched BYU with ease a few weeks ago.
Then USC visits No. 23 Washington on Sept. 28 and No. 7 Notre Dame on Oct. 12.
That’s at least three more losses this year.
Helton’s job seems unsalvageable at this point, so why even keep him around?
USC and its athletic director Lynn Swann parted ways this past week, and there is no reason why the same shouldn’t happen with the head coach.
Helton is gone come season’s end anyway, so getting rid of him now may allow the team to play freer and with no distractions.
Will USC ultimately fire Helton this week?
Probably not.
Should they?
There is certainly a case to be made for it.
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Michael Kyaw, initially a PR Manager, built up a valuable network of connections in the sports world that he then utilized to become an influential sports business reporter. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, Fansided, ESPN and the Wall Street Journal.