Outsiders may believe that Clay Helton is on the hot seat at USC, but Helton does not feel that way.
Helton spoke with the media on Tuesday and said he feels support from athletic director Lynn Swann. Here were his full comments, via SoCal News Group’s Joey Kaufman.
Helton (cont.): "Lynn, every Monday, walks into my office and has given me nothing but, 'Coach, we're in this for the long haul.’ We're going to get this done. That's what I've felt from day one, and what I felt after the Cal game also. I know, in my heart, I'm going to be here."
— Joey Kaufman (@joeyrkaufman) November 14, 2018
Clay Helton: "The only pressure I feel is to help a bunch of seniors and a bunch of kids go out and get the Victory Bell one more year. I’ve always had great support from this university. Lynn Swann has been extremely supportive of me as well as our president Dr. (Wanda) Austin."
— Joey Kaufman (@joeyrkaufman) November 14, 2018
Helton is in his third full season as the program’s head coach. He took over for Steve Sarkisian in 2015 and went 5-4. The team then went 21-6 under him the past two seasons, helped by Sam Darnold at quarterback.
The program is 5-5 this following a home loss to Cal on Saturday. They have rivals UCLA and Notre Dame in their next two games and could very well finish 6-6. This was expected to be a transitional season with Darnold leaving and young quarterbacks competing for the starting job, but the year has gone even worse than fans would have liked.
