Is Clay Helton calling plays for USC with Tee Martin?

Just who is calling offensive plays for USC football this season? That’s something USC fans would like to know so they can determine who should shoulder blame for the Trojans’ poor performances. Unfortunately, there’s not a very clear answer to that question.

At the beginning of the season, USC head coach Clay Helton said that offensive coordinator Tee Martin was doing all the playcalling solo. He said that differed from last year where Clay and brother Tyson Helton would also chime in on playcalls.

As of a week later, the LA Daily News’ Scott Wolf had said that Martin called plays against Stanford while Helton and QB coach Bryan Ellis also chimed in.

USC is now 4-3 following a 41-28 loss at Utah on Saturday. Fans were frustrated with the playcalling during the game and thought Martin was to blame, but Wolf implied that Martin at least is not alone in calling plays.

Perhaps you should ask Tee Martin. In private. Not in public. You might be surprised at his answer #USC https://t.co/AlXxDUugy3

— InsideUSC (@InsideUSC) October 21, 2018

The USC offense looked inept against Utah. They only had 205 total yards and 10 first downs in the game. Freshman JT Daniels had his worst game of the season, going 6-for-16 for 89 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.

Fans may want to strip Martin of play-calling duties, but if Helton already has a big role in that, there might not be hope for a big turnaround.