Georgia Southern is expected to hire Clay Helton as its next head coach, Yahoo Sports reported Tuesday.
Southern California fired Helton, 49, on Sept. 13 after the Trojans got off to a 1-1 start. He had a 46-24 record as the interim and head coach over parts of eight seasons in Los Angeles.
Georgia Southern, a member of the Sun Belt Conference, fired Chad Lunsford on Sept. 26 four games into the season. The Eagles were 1-3 at the time.
Yahoo said the deal with Helton could be finalized this week. He would start immediately performing behind-the-scenes duties, such as recruiting and building a staff for 2022. Interim coach Kevin Whitley would remain as the on-field coach for the rest of the season.
The Eagles are 2-6 (1-4 Sun Belt) on the season and have lost three straight.
Georgia Southern is in its eighth season as an FBS school and has a 52-44 record in that span. As a Division I-AA (FCS) school, it won six national titles, most recently in 2000.
At USC, Helton’s teams posted records of 10-3 in 2016 and 11-3 in 2017. However, the Trojans were just 19-14 since the end of the 2017 season at the time Helton was replaced.
–Field Level Media