Mike Bohn, Clay Helton have championship expectations at USC

USC has championship expectations every single season. Athletic director Mike Bohn said just that when asked about his expectations for USC head coach Clay Helton this season. Expectations are high again this season, as USC is ranked 15^th in the preseason AP Top-25 poll.

Bohn: Championship expectations require championship support

Bohn understands that in order to have championship expectations, the support needs to reflect that. He said that USC’s executive senior associate athletic director Brandon Sosna has worked with Helton to be in a position to achieve those goals.

“I think first of all, when you think of championship expectations, it requires championship support,” Bohn said. And I believe we’ve made strides associated with that. Brandon has been a key part of helping to envision that along with Clay. So, our expectations are what they have always been. We want to be in the Rose Bowl and be part of the College Football Playoff. Those are our goals.”

USC has one of college football’s best quarterbacks in Kedon Slovis. He is a contender to win the Heisman and is a dynamic threat at quarterback.

Helton has had a successful tenure as USC’s head coach

In November of the 2015 season, USC hired Helton as its head coach. In his first two full seasons in 2016 and 2017, Helton led USC to consecutive ten-win seasons. USC won the Rose Bowl in 2016. In 2017, USC won 11 games but ultimately losing in the 2017 Cotton Bowl. After a 5-7 season in 2018, USC went 8-5 in 2019 and lost in the Holiday Bowl.

In last year’s COVID-shortened season, USC impressed with a 5-1 record. As this season approaches, USC is regarded as one of the nation’s top teams with its top 15 preseason ranking. USC has shown improvement as a program over each of the past few seasons. Bohn believes that Helton has things headed in the right directin.

“You think of where we were before the 2019 season, I mean we were ranked 47, 48, 49, somewhere right in there and we ended up 28. The following year through COVID we were ranked 17 and ended up 17. And this year we’re ranked 15 to start the season, so we’re making progress. But we recognize that the expectation and the history is for us to get to the CFP and that’s certainly our goal and what we’re trying to do. I know that’s what these young men are trying to do.”