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Clay Helton a possibility for Georgia Southern vacancy, plus a note on UConn coaching search

Matt Zenitzby:Matt Zenitz•11/02/21•

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ClayHeltonfired
Clay Helton was fired at USC in September. (Leon Bennett/Getty Images)

It’s possible that former USC coach Clay Helton could be back leading a program in the not-too-distant future.

Helton is one of the names to keep an eye with the Georgia Southern coaching search, sources have told On3. Sources have continued to mention him as one of the possibilities at Georgia Southern for the past few weeks.

Helton, 49, was fired by USC in September after going 46-24 in seven seasons as the Trojans’ coach.

Helton had been at USC since 2010, going back to when he was hired as the Trojans’ quarterbacks coach under Lane Kiffin. Before going to USC, Helton was an assistant at Memphis from 2000-09. His brother, Tyson, is coach at Western Kentucky.

Georgia Southern has been in the market for a coach since firing Chad Lunsford on September 26, which came a day after the Eagles fell to 1-3 with a 28-20 loss to Louisiana.

Entering this season, Georgia Southern had won at least seven games in three consecutive seasons, including a 10-3 record in 2018 and an 8-5 mark last season.

Speaking of former coaches at prestigious programs, here’s a name that has come up as a possible candidate at UConn: Al Golden. Golden, the former Miami and Temple coach, is in his second season as linebackers coach for the Cincinnati Bengals.

UConn has strong interest in Golden, sources have told On3, although it’s worth noting that Golden also is viewed in the coaching world as someone who could be an NFL defensive coordinator candidate in the coming months.

Golden, 52, was 32-25 in five seasons as Miami’s coach from 2010-15. 

Louisiana Tech coach Skip Holtz, who was UConn’s coach from 1994-98, is another name that has come up as a potential candidate for the Huskies. Holtz, 57, is in his ninth season at Louisiana Tech after previous stops as coach at USF (2010-12) and East Carolina (2005-09).

Louisiana Tech is 2-6 this season after finishing 5-5 in 2020 and 10-3 in 2019.

UConn, which has had a vacancy since Randy Edsall retired in early September, is 1-8 and has just one FBS win since October 2017.