Clay Helton Happy for Kliff Kingsbury After OC Left USC for Cardinals

USC Trojans head coach Clay Helton was diplomatic after Kliff Kingsbury ended his brief tenure as the Trojans offensive coordinator to become head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.

"I am happy for Kliff," Helton said in a statement, per TMZ Sports. "Any time you get an opportunity to be an NFL head coach, it is special. He is a talented coach, that's why we brought him here. I wish him nothing but the best."

The Cardinals announced Kingsbury's hiring on Tuesday. The move came a little over a month after USC named him as its offensive coordinator.

Nobody should blame Kingsbury too much for how the situation unfolded.

He probably didn't expect to receive much NFL interest so soon after getting fired as Texas Tech's head coach. And it's easy for an outsider to tell a coach to resist NFL overtures when a lot can change in the space of a year—had Kingsbury stayed at USC through 2019 and then weighed his future.

To some extent, Helton might be relieved Kingsbury is no longer on the staff.

USC ranked 55th in S&P+ offense in 2018, per Football Outsiders.

Were the Trojans to turn things around, Kingsbury—not Helton—would've received most of the credit, and some fans may have called for Kingsbury to get promoted to head coach. Had the offense continued to struggle, the blame would have fallen on Helton, and he would have almost certainly been out of a job.

Having said that, Kingsbury's decision leaves USC in a tough spot as it looks for yet another offensive coordinator. The 39-year-old seemed to be a perfect fit for the Trojans given both his overall profile and creative pass-heavy approach.