Report: Clay Helton Has Support from USC President and New AD Mike Bohn

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

The USC Trojans may not be looking for a new football coach during the offseason after all. 

While head coach Clay Helton‘s job status has been a constant source of discussion this year—especially with marquee names such as Urban Meyer drawing support from some fans—Bruce Feldman of The Athletic said the coach has “a lot of support” from athletic director Mike Bohn and president Carol Flot during an appearance on The Audible with Stew & Bruce (h/t Garrett Stepien of 247Sports):

“The biggest job out there and it's also the most entangled is the one that's happening at USC, I mean, from what I've been told … is just there's a lot of support from the new AD Mike Bohn, as well as president Carol Folt, for Clay Helton. They're very comfortable with him, but there is going to be a lot of push back from some very influential USC people about, ‘Hey, we're done with Clay Helton. We like him as a guy, we just don't think he can really get it going here and get it done.' And they're 8-4 and he actually did a good job of getting to 8-4, given all the injuries, third-string quarterback … but that's the one that could create some dominoes, if USC does, in fact, open up.”

The “push back from some very influential USC people” could set up an interesting dynamic for Bohn and the athletic department, but Helton finished the season strong.

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He took over in 2015 for the fired Steve Sarkisian and went 5-4 before the program made an impressive jump and went 10-3 with a Rose Bowl win over Penn State in 2016. It followed that up with an 11-3 campaign that included a Cotton Bowl loss to Ohio State, and it appeared as if USC was primed to compete against elite programs in top-notch bowls for years to come.

Things took a turn for the worse, though, when it went 5-7 last season and appeared well on the way to another disappointing campaign in 2019 with a 3-3 start that included a loss to BYU. 

However, the Trojans went 5-1 down the stretch and easily handed the rival UCLA Bruins on Saturday to finish the regular season with a three-game winning streak.

While a 2020 recruiting class that is just 76th in the country according to 247Sports' class rankings won't help his cause, it appears the hot finish to the season has garnered Helton some support as his team waits for its bowl assignment.

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