Keyshawn addresses Chip Kelly rumors during speech to USC football team (Video)

October 15, 2015

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Almost immediately after Steve Sarkisian was fired earlier this week, rumors started to swirl about who would be USC’s next football coach.

Chip Kelly’s name was a popular one linked to the school. However, he didn’t waste much time shooting that speculation down. With that, for now, in the rear view mirror, the focus is on interim head coach Clay Helton. And, that’s exactly how it should be, according to Trojans great Keyshawn Johnson.

Johnson spoke to the football team on Thursday and, as heard in the above video, told the guys to forget about the possibility of Kelly coming to town.

“The world will be watching to see how you respond. If you respond positively, they say nothing. If you respond negatively, it’s ‘He’s not the guy. Get him out of here, oh, why don’t we go get Chip Kelly, he can run the offense?’ Enough of that,” Johnson said, as shared by Kyle Bonagura of ESPN. “It’s your opportunity to make [interim coach] Clay Helton the head coach. It starts Saturday.”

After being ranked No. 10 in the preseason Coaches Poll, the Trojans (3-2) are currently outside of the top 25 and travel to face No. 13 Notre Dame this weekend. It has obviously been a tumultuous week around the program, so it’s a bit tough guess how the team will respond. Johnson wasn’t the only former USC player to address the team, as Willie McGinest was reportedly among those on hand to give words of encouragement and inspiration.

At the midway point of the season, there’s time for USC to salvage the season. As Johnson noted, doing that begins on Saturday.