Report: USC ‘steamed’ at report Clay Helton to be fired

By Jesse Reed

·Updated: December 1, 2019

Adam Maya of SI.com reported Sunday that the USC football program is set to fire head coach Clay Helton and target Urban Meyer. The university is reportedly “steamed” about the report, which has been disputed by many.

Spoke to a couple of folks plugged in on the #USC situation who think the report that Clay Helton is getting dismissed is not accurate and that no such decision has been made to do anything like that. “I know Clay hasn’t been fired,” one USC source just told me.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 1, 2019

Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports shared that “USC people are rightfully steamed” while mreporting that the school is not dismissing Helton at this time.

Just spoke to multiple USC sources. This isn't right. And USC people are rightfully steamed. https://t.co/8rcZD2dDDm
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 1, 2019

Yahoo Sports’ Pat Forde also reports Helton may still keep his job.

Multiple sources dispute the report that Clay Helton is being fired at USC. Sources tell me no decision has been made and it is still possible — maybe even likely — that Helton keeps his job.
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) December 1, 2019

Helton may not have the kind of clout that someone like Urban Meyer has, but it’s clear he has his team playing hard after engineering a 7-2 record in the Pac-12 this year.

The USC athletic program is under new guidance with Mike Bohn taking over as the athletic director. He seems to be taking his time with making any decisions about the football program. Time will tell if Helton is, in fact, done at USC. But for now, the university is at the least upset that this fire was stoked before it was ready to deal with it.