USC head coach Clay Helton fires 4 assistants
Now that Clay Helton is in charge of the USC program, he decided to make some changes to his coaching staff.
A day after the Trojans fell in the Pac-12 title game to Stanford, Helton announced that four coaches – defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox, defensive backs coach Keith Heyward, defensive line coach Chris Wilson and offensive line coach Bob Connelly – have been released from their contracts.
The changes are effective immediately, so the four coaches will not be involved with the team’s preparation for its Dec. 30 Holiday Bowl matchup with Wisconsin.
Helton told reporters Sunday night that he has “a plan in place” to coach the team with the remaining staff, including graduate assistants.
Wilcox and Heyward just completed their second season at USC after making the move from Washington with former Trojans head coach Steve Sarkisian, who was fired earlier in the season due to off-field issues. Wilcox was the defensive coordinator at Washington, Tennessee and Boise State before coming to USC while Heyward coached the secondary at Oregon State for four seasons before his time at Washington and USC.
Wilson and Connelly were also both in their second season with the program. Wilson joined USC after one year at Georgia and stops at Mississippi State, Oklahoma and Colorado, among others. Connelly came to USC after one year at Oklahoma State. He also spent time at Arizona State, UTEP, Alabama and Washington State.
Helton retained four other assistants: receivers coach Tee Martin, quarterbacks coach Marques Tuiasosopo, running backs coach/special teams coordinator Johnny Nansen and linebackers coach/recruiting coordinator Peter Sirmon.
According to ESPN.com, Martin is a “heavy favorite” to be named Helton’s offensive coordinator. Helton said he does not want to call plays next year.
The Trojans are 8-5 headed into the Holiday Bowl and have gone 5-3 under Helton since he took over for Sarkisian. Helton was originally leading the program on an interim basis, but was stripped of his interim tag on Nov. 30 and named the team’s head coach moving forward.
For more USC news, visit TrojanSports.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
