Keyshawn Johnson talks USC future, Clay Helton dismissal

Keyshawn Johnson got his wish. Following USC’s loss to Stanford, a fed-up Johnson called for change — specifically, a change at head coach. Alas, Clay Helton was relieved of his duties earlier this week.

In an appearance on Sportscenter, the former USC wide receiver explained why it was time to move on from Helton.

“I think when you look at it though, it was time,” said Johnson. “I mean, I stood on the table for coach Helton, I like coach Helton as a coach and a person — I was one of the first people that endorsed him to be hired. But it was time. It was time to go.

“When you look at the USC Trojans football program, we are historical. All we know is how to win championships. If you go back in time, we helped the SEC conference integrate African-Americans into their conference. It was about USC. We don’t even have that type of aura anymore with the university. We’ve become a laughing stock.”

Moreover, Johnson continued to say that the Trojans want to be talked about like the elites in college football. 

“We want to be talked about like Clemson, Ohio State and Alabama,” said Johnson. “We want to be mentioned among the great teams and programs that right now, we can’t beat. And when you look at what happened Saturday night, Stanford game — I mean, we got run out of our own building.”

While Johnson had loads of respect for Helton, he put the program first. Evidently, he believes that Helton wasn’t the guy to lead a Trojans resurgence.

“Those sort of things affect the way recruits think.”

Furthermore, Johnson believes that Helton and his inability to win the big game hurt recruiting. Moreover, he gives multiple examples — like Clemson’s D.J. Uiagalelei and Alabama’s Bryce Young.

“Those sort of things affect the way recruits think,” Johnson said, of losing when the lights are brightest. “When we have DJU (D.J. Uiagalelei) going from Southern California to Clemson. Bryce Young in our own backyard, a kid from Mater Dei High School deciding to go to Alabama. Or you look at C.J. Stroud going to Ohio State. All these guys are in our backyards and they’re making decisions to go elsewhere.”

As you can see, Johnson wants to build a fence around Southern California — recruiting wise. As Helton was letting great talents slip away, the next coach has to be able to take care of business in his backyard.

“We need a big-time coach.”

Finally, Johnson gave his thoughts on the type of head coach USC needs to turn the tides.

“We need a big-time coach,” Johnson said. “We don’t need to be messing around with a small-time coach, giving him an opportunity to become successful. You can’t win that way.

“When Alabama wanted to win, guess what they did. They went out and got Nick Saban. They said no, no-no — we want to get Nick Saban, period.

“It’s one of those situations where we got to go out and find the right guy.”

Over the rest of the college football season, the USC coaching search will be one of the most interesting storylines of the season. While Clay Helton couldn’t, we’ll see if his replacement can live up to standards set by Keyshawn Johnson.