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USC Football: Top 10 coaches in program history

By Quinn Douglas

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 05: Coach Pete Carroll of the USC Trojans leads his team to the field prior to the start of the NCAA college football game against Arizona Wildcats at the Los Angeles Coliseum on December 5, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 05: Coach Pete Carroll of the USC Trojans leads his team to the field prior to the start of the NCAA college football game against Arizona Wildcats at the Los Angeles Coliseum on December 5, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /
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8. Clay Helton: 2013, 2015-present

Career Record: 27-10

Awards and Accolades: 2017 Pac-12 Champions, 2016 Rose Bowl Champions

The current head coach of the USC program comes in at number eight. Clay Helton has had an interesting road to becoming head coach of this college football powerhouse. He played college football at Auburn and Houston before graduating in 1994. Helton went right in to coaching as an assistant at Duke for two seasons before returning to Houston for three years as running backs coach. He then spent nearly a decade as an assistant at Memphis before coming to USC in 2010.

Helton was brought on Lane Kiffin’s staff as quarterbacks coach for two seasons before becoming offensive coordinator. Following interim coach Ed Orgeron’s departure before the 2013 Las Vegas Bowl, Helton led the team to a win in the game. He was retained by succeeding coach Steve Sarkisian as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. However, following Sarkisian’s firing during the 2015 season, Helton once again became interim and eventually became head coach at the end of the 2015 season.

In his first full season as head coach, he led the Trojans to a 10-3 record and a Rose Bowl win over Penn State to finish the season. With high expectations going into 2017, USC faltered, but did not crumble, going 11-2 and winning the Pac-12 before losing to Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. Helton still has a lot to prove, but will likely move up the list if he continues at his current rate.

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