USC Football: Grading Trojans' New Coaching Hires for 2016

Clay Helton wasn't a splash hire for USC, but neither was Pete Carroll when he took over the Trojans program for the 2001 season. All Carroll did was lead USC to one of the great dynasty runs in college football history. 

That's not to say Helton should be compared to Carroll as much as it makes the point that splash hires don't equal the right hires. Rather, what matters for Helton from here on out is the type of staff he puts together. By and large, Helton cleaned house from the Steve Sarkisian era and started over while bringing back a few familiar names to USC's program. 

Now that Helton's first staff is complete, it's time to grade* how he did assistant by assistant. Grades were handed out based on previous experience and results, program fit and any possible recruiting benefits. 

*The only coach not graded was Johnny Nansen, who remains at linebackers.

Below is a table of Helton's staff as it appears on USC's website, along with the number of years that assistant has been with the program: 

Name	Role	Year
John Baxter	Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends	1st (5th overall)
Ronnie Bradford	Secondary	1st
Neil Callaway	Offensive Line	1st
Tyson Helton	Quarterbacks/Pass Game Coordinator	1st
Tee Martin	Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers	5th (promoted)
Johnny Nansen	Linebackers/Recruiting Coord./Asst. Head Coach	3rd
Clancy Pendergast	Defensive Coordinator	1st (3rd overall)
Tommie Robinson	Running Backs/Run Game Coordinator	1st (2nd overall)
Kenechi Udeze	Defensive Line	2nd (promoted)

John Baxter

John Baxter, the veteran coach of more than 30 years, returns to USC to coach special teams and tight ends after spending 2015 at Michigan. Baxter has developed a reputation as one of the best special teams coordinators in college football, and the results reflect this. From 2010-13, the Trojans blocked 24 kicks and finished at or near the top of the Pac-12 in those categories each year. 

"He is one of the most respected coaches in our profession at any position," Helton said of Baxter in a release (via USC Trojans Ripsit Blog). "His units have been near the top of the collegiate special team efficiency rankings almost every year. Having worked alongside him in the past, I know Coach Baxter as one of the best teachers and skill developers in football today." 

Without a doubt, this is a big hire—even if it's special teams. Those shouldn't be overlooked and Helton didn't. 

Grade: A+

Ronnie Bradford

Ronnie Bradford comes to USC for the first time after coaching Louisiana Tech's defensive backs and special teams for the past three years. His background is mostly with the NFL, having served as a special teams and defensive assistant with the Denver Broncos for six years. 

This past season, Bradford coached safety Xavier Woods to a first-team All-Conference USA selection. Additionally, cornerback Bryson Abraham, who had three pick-sixes, was a second-team choice and Kentrell Brice and Adairius Barnes were honorable mentions. 

The Bulldogs finished fifth in C-USA in 2015 in pass defense by allowing 6.9 yards per pass attempt and second in the conference in '14 in the same category. 

In all, the Bradford hire gets a "solid" grade by Josh Webb of Inside Troy:

Grade: B- 

Neil Callaway

One thing Helton's staff isn't lacking is experience, and Neil Callaway is another example. The Trojans' new O-line coach has numerous stints in the SEC on his resume and most recently coached at Western Kentucky, which has finished in the top 10 nationally in total offense in each of the past two years. Additionally, the Hilltoppers ranked among the top teams in C-USA in sacks allowed. 

This is an important area for the Trojans. Youth and inexperience are no longer excuses up-front and quarterback Cody Kessler, who had a tendency to hold on to the ball too long at times, has moved on. The point here is that pass protection shouldn't be a huge issue. 

Run blocking has already shown signs of improvement, too. Ronald Jones II returns as one of the breakout stars at running back. Despite breaking in a new quarterback, this USC offense should be potent again thanks to the work being done up-front. The pieces are there for Callaway. Now can he deliver?

Grade: A-

Tyson Helton

Tyson Helton, the younger brother of Clay Helton, joins Callaway in moving from Western Kentucky to USC. As the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach with the Hilltoppers, Helton coached veteran signal-caller Brandon Doughty. As a sixth-year senior in '15, Doughty led the Football Bowl Subdivision with 5,055 yards passing, 48 touchdowns and finished second at 9.4 yards per attempt with a passer rating of 176.48. 

For his efforts, the younger Helton was named a finalist for FootballScoop.com's Offensive Coordinator of the Year Award. 

So yeah, Western Kentucky was prolific in the passing attack. That fits right in with what USC wants to (and can) do offensively. Helton's job primarily will be to tutor quarterback Max Browne and a group of other backups looking to emerge as the starter. 

Hiring family members can be tricky, but the resume is there for Helton. On paper, this looks like a thumbs-up hire. 

Grade: B

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Tee Martin 

It's interesting to see Tyson Helton named the passing game coordinator while fifth-year assistant Tee Martin was promoted to offensive coordinator despite having little experience calling plays at the college level. Though to be fair, Helton only had two years of OC experience at Western Kentucky. 

Either way, this is easily the most uncertain hire (or in this specific case, promotion) Helton made. Martin is regarded as one of the top recruiters in college football. Last year, he was named the Pac-12 Recruiter of the Year by Rivals.com. However, his coordinator experience is limited to one year at Kentucky. (He was the Wildcats' passing game coordinator in 2011.) 

So why did Coach Helton make the move? At some point, Martin is likely going to be approached by someone to be an OC. By making that promotion himself and allocating duties, Clay Helton keeps Martin as a recruiter and doesn't put every aspect of the offense on him. 

Martin's promotion was going to happen sooner or later, whether at USC or somewhere else. Until he's proved, questions will be asked about his X's and O's acumen.

Grade: C

Clancy Pendergast

Clancy Pendergast was USC's defensive coordinator under former head coach Lane Kiffin for only one year, in 2013, but he did a great job. The Trojans finished second in the Pac-12 against the run and the pass and third in points per game allowed. Additionally, USC was good at getting off the field, ranking second in the conference in third-down conversions and first in red-zone conversions. 

Defense was a issue for USC last year. Though the Trojans weren't egregiously bad in any one category, they were susceptible to passing attacks (bad news in the Pac-12) and couldn't get a lot of pressure from their defensive line.

Those are two areas Pendergast will need to fix right away, but Helton is confident in Pendergast's ability to develop as much as he is in his play-calling abilities: 

"

In statement, Helton said he was "blown away" by Pendergast's knowledge of football and teaching ability on Kiffin's staff in 2013

— Rich Hammond (@Hammond_OCR) January 12, 2016"

Grade: A

Tommie Robinson

Rounding out the tri-coordinator team at USC is Tommie Robinson, who starts his second stint in LA after spending the last two years as the running backs coach at Texas.

The Longhorns didn't do many things right on offense in Charlie Strong's first two years in Austin, but the running backs situation was actually fairly solid. Sophomore D'Onta Foreman and freshmen Chris Warren III were Texas' top two rushers in yards per attempt. The only knock was that quarterback Jerrod Heard got the most carries because of his scrambling ability. 

Robinson will have a talented back to work with (Jones II), so his development over the next two to three years will be a major evaluator in the job Robinson does. 

Grade: C+

Kenechi Udeze 

Like Martin, Kenechi Udeze is being promoted from within. Last year, he served as an assistant strength and conditioning coach before being promoted to defensive line coach on an interim basis for the Holiday Bowl against Wisconsin. Just this week, he was named the full-time D-line coach. 

Promotions like these happen all the time. Great position coaches, coordinators and head coaches don't magically appear out of thin air; they all start somewhere and work their way up. That's what Helton did with Udeze, a former All-American defensive end and first-round draft pick out of USC. 

That being said, Udeze is unproved and is now in charge of a group that faces a lot of turnover from last year. The D-line may have been underwhelming in 2015, but it at least had veteran players. This year's group is talented thanks to young guys like Rasheem Green, but there are a lot of spots to be filled and no clear favorites just yet.

In short, Udeze will have a big challenge right away. The grade here is not based on Udeze being a "bad hire" per se, but rather the question marks surrounding that entire area of the defense. 

Grade: D+ 

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All quotes cited unless obtained firsthand. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com.