Catching Up With Clay Helton

It has been a busy winter for USC head football coach Clay Helton. Between interviewing and hiring new coaches, crisscrossing the nation to visit recruits prior to the December and February signing periods, onboarding nearly a dozen mid-year signees, keeping tabs on the players' off-season conditioning and preparing for spring football practice, Helton has been on the go.

"It has been an eventful off-season, but every off-season has its share of activity, planning and challenges," said Helton during a brief stop at the McKay Center between recruiting trips. "We have been working hard to move forward with this year's team and get rid of the bad taste of last season.

"While the coaches have been out recruiting, our players have been working very hard in an extensive position-specific winter off-season program that will carry us through to the start of spring football."

USC's spring practice will start the first week of March and run through mid-April. The public USC Spring Football Showcase will be held on campus on April 6.

"During spring ball, we not only will continue to develop our players—a process that started with our January workouts--but we will focus on our attention to detail when it comes to fundamentals and technique, penalties and turnovers. That must improve for us to be back at a championship level. In 2016 and 2017, we did those little things well and we won a Rose Bowl and a Pac-12 title. Last season, those things cost us close games down the stretch (USC's last four losses were by 7 points or less). My total focus this spring, therefore, will be on the discipline of the game. I'll let our coordinators install scheme and system."

Helton said an official announcement about a new offensive coordinator is imminent.

"We should be able to announce our new coordinator very soon, someone we believe will take our offense to new heights," he said. "Our new OC will be someone who is knowledgeable, innovative, dynamic and successful in both the pass and run games and has the ability to teach the system to the entire offensive unit. Someone who is just as concerned about the fundamentals and techniques of the game as he is with scheme. An aggressive mind as a play caller with the ability to adjust to what is going on within the game. A natural leader who brings great energy, passion and production to the offensive side of the ball.

"Finding that right person to lead our offense sometimes takes time. Instead of rushing into a decision, I have been committed to doing the necessary research to find the proper fit for our team and our current personnel."

Helton said that the play calling duties will be left to the offensive coordinator.

"My job on game days will be managing game situations," Helton said.

Helton noted that the loss of Kliff Kingsbury, who took the offensive coordinator job in December before being hired away a month later as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, was a temporary bump in the road.

"Unfortunately, losing coaches is part of the industry," said Helton. "For Kliff to have the chance to be a head coach in the NFL was a tremendous opportunity and I was happy for him. I wish him nothing but the best. He is a very talented coach, which was the reason we brought him to USC."

The new coordinator will join four other new assistant coaches on the 2019 staff: Mike Jinks (running backs), Chad Kauha'aha'a (defensive line), Greg Burns (secondary) and Joe DeForest (outside linebackers). Also, two former Trojans — Chris Hawkins and Viane Talamaivao — have returned to their alma mater as graduate assistants.

The USC football team also will have a new strength and conditioning coach in 2019 now that Ivan Lewis has accepted a job with the Seattle Seahawks. Helton is interviewing candidates to replace him.

"I am happy for Ivan," said Helton. "It always has been his dream to coach in the NFL if it was with the right organization. He had turned down offers in the past, but the Seahawks organization was too good of an opportunity to pass up. I want all our coaches and players to be able to fulfill their dreams.

"Ivan's replacement will be someone who can develop our players' total body as well as design programs for their skill specific needs. That programming should incorporate strength, conditioning, speed training, functional football movements, preventative injury exercises, flexibility, diet and sleep. That person will be forward thinking when it comes to the art of sports science and how it can help our players gain a competitive advantage. They should have the leadership skills and confidence to lead a group of 110 young men, being firm but fair and holding them accountable to their responsibilities. Someone who will coach them hard, but also develop relationships built on trust and honesty. And someone who will establish toughness, discipline and teamwork that will carry over to the practice field and games."

Since the start of the spring semester, USC's 11 mid-year enrollees (including nine who graduated a semester early from high school) have been participating in the off-season workouts with Troy's returning players

"I commend our veterans for welcoming the newcomers to USC and teaching them the Trojan Way," said Helton. "This is a mature group that has a sense of urgency to be great. Spring will be a valuable time for them to get ahead on their college careers, both academically and athletically. I am very excited about our program's future with them on our roster."

Missing, however, will be a few players who have decided to transfer.

"We have a couple players who are graduating this semester, some in just three years' time, and they wanted the opportunity to have a larger role on another team, so they will be graduate transfers," said Helton. "All are terrific men, good students and players. I want the best for each of them."

USC also saw a December signee, Bru McCoy, enroll in January but transfer several weeks later.

"Bru's decision was personal to him," said Helton. "He is a fine young man who has a bright future and I wish him well.

"Transferring has become more common in college football recently. The new NCAA transfer portal has allowed student-athletes to more easily seek a new opportunity at another university. The other day, there were 1,986 football players in the portal and 1,362 were Division I. Everyone is experiencing attrition. It is something that all head coaches have to manage when it comes to rosters and recruiting."

USC opens its 2019 season at home in the renovated Coliseum on Aug. 31 against Fresno State. Helton can't wait.

"I'm very excited for the 2019 season," he said. "We have a chip on our shoulders and something to prove. We know we have to live with last season for the next seven months. I have been watching our team improve every day this off-season and I can't wait for the Trojan Family to see the results of the hard work they are putting in."

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