Non-Flashy Hire At Least Keeps Trojans Out Of College Football’s Amusement Park
It wasn’t a flashy hire.
It may not even been a great hire.
But USC did one thing by naming Clay Helton its head coach. It avoided the coaching carousel that’s affecting many other college football programs.
Georgia Added To List Of Schools Seeking Coaches
This is a busy year for teams, as several high-profile positions have come open, the latest being Georgia, which suddenly and surprisingly let go of Mark Richt, This, along with Miami, Maryland and a slew of others are having a ripple effect on the college landscape.
Already, Virginia Tech has added to the wave action by hiring Justin Fuente from Memphis. Houston’s Tom Herman is another hot candidate (though the former Ohio State offensive coordinator did something really odd by saying he’s reached an agreement with the Cougars only to make it clear it has not been signed).
USC was expected to make a push as a “big” name, but the biggest of those supposedly contacted by Athletic Director Pat Haden was Oakland Raiders coach – and Trojan alumn – Jack del Rio and former Tampa Bay and Rutgers coach Greg Schiano (who appears to be headed back to Rutgers.)
See what a carousel this situation is already around the college football world?
And the craziest situation was one that resulted in a coach going nowhere, the curious situation with Les Miles at LSU.
On the brink of apparently firing him, Athletic Director Joe Alleva reportedly changed his mind. In the third quarter of the last game. Miles has been with the school for 11 years and the AD changes his mind during a game against an inferior opponent?
So while other schools search to make the “right hire,” at least USC can get on the business with preparing for the Pac-12 Championship, its bowl game and, most importantly, recruiting.
Whether or not Helton can actually coach, motivate players on a consistent basis rather than have them rally around him during a crisis and recruit, are big risks for the program.
Haden sure didn’t show a lot of confidence in his choice when he quickly left the press conference after announcing the hire, leading to media speculation he was ducking questions about how compete the search was and how much effort he really put into it.
Was Haden a handy hire or a well thought out one? For now, tho, all that matters is that USC can get on with its business while other schools are still on that ride known as the coaching carousel,
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