[BigdaddyQH]

Let me start by saying that I am a USC fan and grad. Having said that there is absolutely no excuse for that total embarassment and lack of effort they put up against Alabama. Sure 'Bama is the defending champions and loaded again, but they simply are not that good. USC gave up.

Now I understand that this is just game 1, but a disturbing trend has developed. Since Clay Helton was named "Head Coach", shaking the "interim" label, USC has lost three straight games. For the players in here, they have now failed to cover 5 out of their last 6 games.

Now here is the main rason why Helton is in hot water, whether he knows it or not. Former Athletic Director Pat Haden appointed Helton to the job. He "hired" him if you will. Rumor control said that Haden was not in good health and just wanted to get the Head Coaching situation resolved as soon as he could. He really did not look for anyone else. Helton's problem is that Haden is no longer the A.D. Lynn Swan is the USC AD now and he has absolutely no reason to give Helton another season if USC does not improve in a major hurry and challenge for the Pac 12 title. USC still has games at Stanford and Washington, and at home against Oregon not to mention playing the entire Pac 12 West and closing out the season at home against Notre Dame. It will take a major miracle for USC to survive the rest of their schedule without at least 3 more losses. 8-4 does not cut it at USC.

Next season USC hosts Western Michigan and Texas in weeks one and three. A conference away game splits those two games. They go to Notre Dame, but get Stanford and UCLA at home. They swap Oregon and Washington for Oregon State and Washington State. Now that is a schedule that a new HC can really sink his teeth into, especially with a seasoned QB.

[Seattle Slew]

He'll coach out the season, and unless he wins 8, likely will be fired. Just another terrible decision by Pat Haden. To hire this guy and not even search was crazy.

[mjsuax13]

He should have never got the job... USC is a mess of a program. Very unfortunate comedy of events starting with hiring Lane Kiffin. It would be a gift for them to fire this guy and get someone proven in here.

[Isaiah]

Pat Haden was one of the few good guys left in college sports. A man of integrity who inherited quite a mess to clean up in the USC athletic department. Unfortunately he was let down by a couple of dick head coaches and that clearly had an affect on his health.I remember how shocked I was at his appearance during his last year on the job. The stress of the AD job had aged him considerably and he obviously didn't have anything left in the tank to go through another intensive head coaching search for football. So the Helton hire was understandable but definitely underwhelming. USC can do better than Clay Helton.

Were I a USC fan I would be rooting for a rotten season so new AD Lynn Swan can legitimately get rid of him at season's end and usher in a new era by hiring one of the top coaches in the nation. USC football is one of the the best head coaching jobs in the country and they would have no shortage of candidates to choose from. The worst case scenario would be for the team to do just good enough to keep the coach and be mired in mediocrity for the next several seasons. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[jtoler]

How can you say Bama isnt that good. USC sucks, you need to find a qb, Browne sucks.

[Grits n' Gravy]

How they fare in conference and on the recruiting circuit will determine his fate. USC was awful for years prior to Carroll. Just cyclical. If Swann is serious about replacing him he has to look outside the box. Jeff Fisher and Jack Del Rio are names that will come up that he should avoid.

[BigdaddyQH]

How can you say Bama isnt that good. USC sucks, you need to find a qb, Browne sucks.

Stop taking things out of context. I said that Alabama is not as good as they looked against USC, and they are not. That does not mean that they should not be the #1 ranked team in the nation.

[BigdaddyQH]

How they fare in conference and on the recruiting circuit will determine his fate. USC was awful for years prior to Carroll. Just cyclical. If Swann is serious about replacing him he has to look outside the box. Jeff Fisher and Jack Del Rio are names that will come up that he should avoid.

I agree, but there is no way Fisher or Del Rio will be fired after this season, so that becomes a mute point. What Swan has to do is stop looking for former USC assistants and go out and grab someone who is a solid possibility. That does not include their current O.C, who proved that he is not nearly as good as people give him credit for. Here is a wild thought. What about soon to be LSU's ex HC Les Miles?

[NardVa]

USC is gone have 2 or 3 more embarrassment games which will seal his fate.

[jtoler]

Stop taking things out of context. I said that Alabama is not as good as they looked against USC, and they are not. That does not mean that they should not be the #1 ranked team in the nation.

Let me start by saying that I am a USC fan and grad. Having said that there is absolutely no excuse for that total embarassment and lack of effort they put up against Alabama. Sure 'Bama is the defending champions and loaded again, but they simply are not that good. USC gave up.

...

[gojetsgomoxies]

BigDaddy, good topic and good insight :0

"in trouble" to me implies in-season............ "end of season" probably 40% of ncaa coaches could be in trouble.

agree with one poster that USC has to get off the turnover treadmill and hire a "football boss". the "next nick saban".... not sure if the coach needs the west coast/cali relationships or not.... either oregon state's past or current coach might be good. utah's coach?

why isn't USC better? don't they get most of the best players in cali...... cali player's soft??...

[Grits n' Gravy]

I agree, but there is no way Fisher or Del Rio will be fired after this season, so that becomes a mute point. What Swan has to do is stop looking for former USC assistants and go out and grab someone who is a solid possibility. That does not include their current O.C, who proved that he is not nearly as good as people give him credit for. Here is a wild thought. What about soon to be LSU's ex HC Les Miles?

I like Les as a coach. I think he has just run the course at LSU and either needs a new coaching job or tv spot. He would be a definite change from the typical Trojan hire. Would USC alumni like the hire? Iwas kind of surprised they didn't go after Kelly.

How Fisher manages to keep his job year after year amazes me. Keeping him means a team is content on being average at best.

Not a Del Rio fan either. He is getting a lot of credit for Oakland improvement when it really just boiled down to McKenzie's good drafts the past few seasons and great job of steering team out of salary cap hell from prior regime.

[BigdaddyQH]

The last time USC went "out of the box" to hire a Head Coach was when they hired Pete Carroll. It's that time again. I expect a 7-6 or 8-5 season for USC again this year. If they could not beat a so-so Washington team last year at home, they are going to get killed this season in Seattle. Stanford should have a field day against them. UCLA and Notre Dame look very tough.

[daneblazer]

Part of USC's problem is that they haven't been able to keep a head coach there the past 4 years... Some of that no fault of their own. They are USC. Open up the pocket book and get someone there and give them time. They need a culture change.

[Isaiah]

I agree, but there is no way Fisher or Del Rio will be fired after this season, so that becomes a mute point. What Swan has to do is stop looking for former USC assistants and go out and grab someone who is a solid possibility. That does not include their current O.C, who proved that he is not nearly as good as people give him credit for. Here is a wild thought. What about soon to be LSU's ex HC Les Miles?

Tom Herman - Houston if you can get him. He'll win you several national championships before he is through.

[Microbetter]

Tom Herman - Houston if you can get him. He'll win you several national championships before he is through.

I like this choice the best. Fisher will manage to hang on to his current job for several years. Les Miles is probably out of the picture. If he does well this year, his job at LSU is secure. If not, he'll look like a washed up coach that USC wouldn't want.

[BigdaddyQH]

Tom Herman - Houston if you can get him. He'll win you several national championships before he is through.

That depends on what the Big 12 does with Houston. If the Big 12 passes on Houston, then Tom Herman will be looking for a job with a Power 5 team. If they take Houston, he is a fixture there for years.

[Isaiah]

That depends on what the Big 12 does with Houston. If the Big 12 passes on Houston, then Tom Herman will be looking for a job with a Power 5 team. If they take Houston, he is a fixture there for years.

Upon doing further research on Herman I'm not sure he would be interested in the USC job even if Houston doesn't get the Big 12 invite. Appears he might have his eye on the University of Texas job if/when Strong is fired. Herman has a long history of coaching in Texas. He was a graduate assistant at UT under Mack Brown, coached at Texas Lutheran, Sam Houston State, Texas State, Rice and now Houston. He has also established great relations with the high school coaches throughout the state for recruiting purposes.

Looks like it would take a perfect storm of occurrences (USC job opening, no UT opening, no Big 12 invite for UH, plus other factors we are unaware of) for him to end up at USC. Nevertheless, if a school with the prestige of USC called he'd accept the call and listen intently.

One other interesting factoid I discovered about him; like us BigdaddyQH, he is a genius. Yes a certified member of Mensa. See http://www.us.mensa.org/featured-content/member-spotlight-tom-herman/

Can you imagine him at USC with a pipeline to blue chip recruits from Texas and the entire West? Wow.
Hope springs eternal.