USC football finally made the move that probably should have been made a couple of years ago. The Trojans fired Clay Helton on Monday evening following a blowout home loss to 0-1 Stanford on Saturday.
Most people would look at a 46-24 career record as a success, but expectations are much higher at USC than other programs. You go 46-24 at a school like Rutgers, you’re probably earning a lifetime contract. But this isn’t Rutgers, it’s USC. This program has expectations of national titles on a yearly basis and that just wasn’t happening under Helton.
In fact, after a 26-10 start to his career with USC, the Trojans were just 20-14 which has felt like a massive failure over the past few years. That’s just not cutting it.
Now the Trojans must find a replacement for Helton which likely won’t be announced until the season is over and it feels like they are conceding the 2021 season after a 1-1 start. That’s good news for the rest of the Pac-12, but USC fans have to feel helpless right now.
We’ve talked about some potential replacements for Helton that seem logical and likely but buying some of these guys out from their programs will be tough.
USC fans love high-profile names, however.
And these three guys could be serious options.
3. Bob Stoops
Do I think this one is realistic? Probably not because Bob Stoops’ name has been thrown around quite a bit over the past few years, but it doesn’t seem like he’s in any hurry to return to coaching.
He hasn’t coached since 2016 when he won the Sugar Bowl and then rode off into the sunset, leaving the keys to the Oklahoma Lambo to Lincoln Riley. In almost two decades with the Sooners, Stoops went 190-48, winning less than 10 games just four times which is a Nick Saban-like stat.
People forget just how good Stoops was at Oklahoma and he would be a home run hire for the Trojans. He is 61 years old, but that could mean that he has 10 good years left in him, especially if he’s feeling refreshed after a five-year absence from college football.
Stoops has 10 conference titles and a national championship under his belt. USC needs that kind of resume from the next head coach.
The Trojans are desperate to get back to the top of college football and Stoops would surely do that as he was a great recruiter, leader, and overall head coach. He would instantly change the culture in Los Angeles.
2. Chris Petersen
Like Bob Stoops, Chris Petersen also left college football on his terms, handing the keys to an assistant coach in Jimmy Lake. It’s only been a couple of years since he “retired” but he would almost have to listen to USC if the Trojans were to come calling.
Washington was a great job for Petersen and he went 55-26 with the Huskies, even leading them to a College Football Playoff. He has shown that he can win in the Pac-12, going 34-20 in league play, winning three division titles, and two conference championships after coming over from the Group of Five.
At Boise State, Petersen was one of the most sought-after head coaches for years, putting up a 92-12 overall record and 57-6 mark in conference play. Some were worried about his transition from the Mountain West to the Pac-12 but he adjusted quite nicely after a couple of years.
Not far removed from the head coaching world, Petersen still has what it takes to win on the big stage and with more resources at USC than he would have had at Washington, I could see him having a ton of success with the Trojans.
Petersen is only 56 years old, has familiarity with the Pac-12, and can recruit. This makes too much sense.
1. Urban Meyer
Yeah, you probably saw this one coming and I’ve even written about it already, but Urban Meyer needs to at least be one of the first coaches the Trojans reach out to about their vacancy.
USC had a prime opportunity to hire Meyer a couple of years ago, but instead of firing Clay Helton after a disappointing 8-5 season in 2019, the Trojans decided to retain him even though Urban Meyer was on the market following a departure from Ohio State in 2018.
This would have been the perfect opportunity for the Trojans, especially since USC was one of Meyer’s “dream schools” from before his time at Ohio State. He had an opportunity to take over a top program on the West Coast, ride off into the sunset in beautiful California weather and win some national titles in Los Angeles, but the Trojan athletic department didn’t make the move.
Now could be the time.
Yes, I know Meyer is in the NFL and seemingly happy with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but they just lost their first game of the season to a really bad Houston team and Trevor Lawrence looks like he’s going to take some lumps this year. Does he ditch this NFL dream after one year if it doesn’t work out and head to USC or will he ride it out until he’s eventually fired?
USC needs to get in contact with Meyer as soon as possible to talk about what kind of numbers it would take him to accept a job with the Trojans.
This would be a hire that rocks the college football world.