Should USC Hire Clay Helton as Full-Time Head Coach If Trojans Keep Winning?

Interim head coach Clay Helton led USC to a 27-21 win over Cal, shoring up his bid to become the Trojans' full-time head coach.

The much-maligned USC defense held Cal to a season-low 398 yards, and the somehow-even-more-maligned offensive line, a constant source of frustration, owned the line of scrimmage on the last drive of the game, helping the Trojans run out the clock after Cal cut the lead to one score.

Bleacher Report's Bryan Fischer praised Helton for the new brand of football:

For sure, Helton remains a long shot to win the full-time job. He's never led a team in the capacity. If USC let Ed Orgeron, a former SEC head coach who thrived after replacing Lane Kiffin two years ago, walk instead of giving him the real job, why would it promote the greener Helton?

That's a fair question.

But if USC keeps winning, the answer becomes, "why not?"

The Orgeron-Helton parallels are so obvious they smack you in the face.

Both, for example, replaced head coaches who flamed out in messy fashion. Kiffin was fired on the tarmac after returning from a 62-41 loss at Arizona State; Steve Sarkisian was fired after reportedly showing up to a meeting drunk and amid reports of his struggles with alcohol use, according to the Seattle Times' Adam Jude

Both also sparked immediate turnarounds. Orgeron led a 3-2 team to an 8-2 finish, losing to Notre Dame and UCLA but upsetting then-No. 5 Stanford. Helton has led a 3-2 team to two wins in three games, losing, like Orgeron, in a close game at Notre Dame but upsetting then-No. 3 Utah.

The way USC is playing, it's reasonable to think it can run the table. Arizona, Oregon and UCLA remain on the schedule, but all three have been worse this year than last year. If the Trojans win out and Utah drops one more game, they would also win the Pac-12 South.

Richard Hartog/Associated Press

If that happens, Helton becomes a favorite to win the job. How could he not? He said upfront he wants to be the eventual head coach, and turning Sarkisian's wreckage into a division (or conference) championship requires magic. If magic's not enough to win the job, what would be?

But even if Helton loses to UCLA, following the exact same template as Coach O, he should probably earn a serious interview. If the Trojans had a chance to do it over, would they not just hire Orgeron over Sark? Considering all the chaos that's happened since?

Would they really ignore such a clear chance for redemption?

Don Ryan/Associated Press

After Coach O led the upset of Stanford, there was steam for him to earn the full-time job.

Bleacher Report's Adam Kramer wrote the following (emphasis my own):

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This isn’t about beating UCLA in the final game of the season—although don’t think this won’t loom large in the decision. It's not about one-half of a season and the short-term buzz that has stretched well beyond the West Coast. It’s also not about past failures or how other interim coaches have done when handed the keys to the car. And it's not about landing the big name, the headline-grabbing hire that guarantees nothing but short-term press.

This is about fit, and at this point it’s becoming increasingly difficult to argue that anyone fits this program better than the sword-wielding coach making the most of his opportunity.

"

Pressure to "land the big name" is normal at USC. How could it not be when former head coach Pete Carroll, who led the Trojans to seven straight BCS bowl games, has since won a Super Bowl (and nearly won a second) with the NFL's Seattle Seahawks?

Trying to reproduce the Carroll years led USC to Kiffin. When that didn't work, it led them to Sarkisian. Both were offensive coordinators under Carroll in the mid- to late 2000s.

Athletic director Pat Haden wanted to thread one regime with another, to hire a coach he could sell for reasons outside of winning. Neither Kiffin nor Sark had ever coached a team to 10 wins. Haden hired them because they fit the story.

Helton would be the opposite: someone hired because of his record, not his resume. He's not the big name USC is looking for, but how many "big names" are even on the market?

Chip Kelly isn't coming, and neither is Brian Kelly. Kyle Whittingham is solid but unspectacular. Brian Harsin, Justin Fuente and Tom Herman remain mostly unproven. Even former Trojans linebacker Jack Del Rio, whose name pops up whenever USC runs a coaching search, seems settled as the Oakland Raiders' head coach.

This all becomes moot if USC falls back, but for now it has a good thing going. Why not ride the hot hand with Helton?

"I am getting more comfortable with each and every game," the interim coach said Saturday, per ATVN Sports.

How good might he be once he is comfortable?