Clay Helton entered the season on the hot seat, and USC’s loss to BYU in overtime on Saturday is enough to cause questions about the head coach’s job security.
A week after rallying to beat Stanford at home 45-20 behind backup quarterback Kedon Slovis, the Trojans traded leads with the Cougars most of the game. An unbelievable 52-yard field goal with under two minutes left helped USC tie the game at 27 and send it to overtime, where they lost 30-27 after being intercepted.
Immediately, top college football reporters recognized that Helton’s job status was even shakier.
Incredible two weeks for Kalani Sitake and #BYU. Not a ringing endorsement for Clay Helton's future at #USC. So many mistakes by the Trojans.
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) September 14, 2019
USC loses at BYU, 30-27. Clay Helton lost his AD earlier this week. This is the latest step toward him losing his job. A new AD simply can’t arrive there and think he’s the guy to lead them to a national title.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) September 14, 2019
Helton is in his fourth full season as the program’s head coach after taking over for Steve Sarkisian in 2015. He rode Sam Darnold to a pair of double-digit win seasons until dropping to 5-7 last season. They’re now 2-1 this year and have a tough schedule ahead. Making matters worse, Helton no longer has a big figure in the athletic department behind him.
