Kirk Herbstreit comments on Clay Helton dismissal from USC

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit commented on the release of USC head coach Clay Helton on Monday, calling the timing of their decision a surprise. The veteran analyst took to social media to call Helton “one of the good guys” in college football, and that he wasn’t shocked it happened.

Herbstreit on USC dismissing Clay Helton

The USC Trojans announced on Monday that Helton has been let go and will not finish out this season as head of the program. Athletic director Mike Bohn named Donte Williams as the interim head coach. This season would have been Helton’s seventh as the leader of the Trojans since taking over as interim head coach himself in 2015.

The news comes after USC lost to Stanford at home in a 48-28 finish. Helton and the Trojans were booed leaving the field at halftime.

Herbstreit felt this decision had been in the making for some time, but admitted it was a bit surprising that they would let him go so early in the season.

“Clay Helton is one of the good guys in the business,” Herbstreit explained. “Every person in the industry will tell you that. I’m not shocked SC let him go (there have been rumors & speculation for years). Guess [I’m] somewhat surprised they pulled the trigger this early — let the speculation games begin!”

The loss against Stanford dropped USC to 1-1 on the season and out of national polls. In his career as coach of the Trojans, Helton finishes with a 46-24 record and has not won the Pac-12 conference title since 2017.

Another reason the timing seemed shocking is Helton had two full years remaining on his deal after this season. Helton is expected to be owed more than $10 million in buyout money following his dismissal.

Helton’s record at USC

USC has never made the College Football Playoff; the highest a Trojans team was ever ranked under Helton was No. 3 in the 2016 season. They won their first five contests last season and entered the playoff competition for a minute, before falling to Oregon in the Pac-12 championship game.

Athletic director Mike Bohn and USC have been under pressure to make a move in leadership of the football program in recent years. Many thought the failure to win the Pac-12 last season would result in Bohn firing Helton. But the athletic director gave the coach another chance. The loss to Stanford was just the domino it took to make the move.

Adding to the pressure at quarterback is JT Daniels has found success since transferring to Georgia. The former USC quarterback left USC for the SEC after the 2019 season.

Helton was brought to USC by Lane Kiffin to serve as the Trojans quarterbacks coach. He was then promoted to offensive coordinator in 2013. When Ed Orgeron resigned from his post as interim head coach after Steve Sarkisian took the job, Helton coached USC in the 2013 Las Vegas Bowl.

He took over as interim head coach again in 2015 when Sarkisian took a leave of absence. On Nov. 30, 2015, the interim tag was taken off and Helton was tabbed as USC’s 23rd head coach in school history.

But Clay Helton was never able to bring the Trojans back to the national success they had throughout the 2000s under Pete Carroll. Whoever USC and Mike Bohn bring in next will be expected to make Pac-12 titles and College Football Playoff appearances a common occurrence.

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On3’s Pete Nakos contributed to this article.