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USC Football: Top 3 potential candidates to replace Clay Helton

By Kyle Grondin

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA - OCTOBER 19: Head coach James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions high fives fans on his way into the stadium before the game against the Michigan Wolverines on October 19, 2019 at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA - OCTOBER 19: Head coach James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions high fives fans on his way into the stadium before the game against the Michigan Wolverines on October 19, 2019 at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) /
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With rumors of Clay Helton’s dismissal, here are the top three candidates who USC football will target to replace the embattled head coach.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, reports emerged that Clay Helton was set to be let go from USC, one day after losing the Pac-12 South to Utah but nothing is official and there are conflicting reports. Whether fair or not, it was clear all season that Helton didn’t seem like the guy USC, or new athletic director Mike Bohn, wanted at the helm.

Helton finished at the Trojans with a 40-21 record, but where they started and where they finished tell a different story. In his second season, the Trojans reached the Rose Bowl, but since went 5-7 and 8-4. That 5-7 season was the first losing season for USC since 2000.

Recruiting has been going in the same trend. Helton inherited the No. 2 recruiting class in the country in 2015, the first year he took over. Since then, USC has gone downhill, until falling to the No. 20 recruiting class in 2019, and 2020’s class ranking No. 76, according to 247Sports. That’s unacceptable for the Trojan program, which is still one of the premier locations for college football in the country.

USC will have its pickings for the next coach, as everyone (minus the top few, of course) is within the Trojans’ reach as a potential hire. Here are the three candidates USC targets for their next head coach.

Honorable Mentions: Bryan Harsin, Jimmy Lake, Joe Brady

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