College Football Coaching Changes: Ranking the best hires

Nov 30, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Clay Helton addresses the media at press conference to announce his hiring as the Southern California Trojans permanent head coach at John McKay Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

7. USC Trojans – Clay Helton replaces Steve Sarkisian

Steve Sarkisian’s ouster from USC was one of the biggest headlines of the college football season. His off-field behavior was too much to keep one of the five best jobs in the nation. He opened the door for Clay Helton to serve as the interim head coach the rest of the year and he went 5-2 with a win over UCLA to win the Pac-12 South.

Despite his success in getting the Trojans back on track, the assumption was USC would be able to lure a high-profile sitting coach and come to USC, but that didn’t happen and athletic director Pat Haden trusted his gut and retained Helton and gave him a five-year deal.

The move was lauded by players on the roster, but it was met with indifference from former players and the national media who questioned the move considering USC was a Cadillac job and they filled it with a Hyundai Elantra.

I’m split with Helton. I thought USC would hire an established coach who would strike fear into the rest of the Pac-12 and put teams like UCLA, Stanford, Oregon and others on notice. But this move doesn’t do that and I think Pac-12 coaches are relieved Helton got the job.

In his defense, I like what Helton did in cleaning up the mess Sarkisian left behind, and his roster is absolutely loaded with talent, that he should have the Trojans in position to win the Pac-12 next year.

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