College Football

USC reportedly wants to keep Clay Helton as offensive coordinator

The Trojans ranked tenth in the Pac-12 this season in scoring offense even amid coaching turmoil.

By Pete Volk@Pete_Volk Dec 21, 2013, 6:39pm EST

Despite a change at the top, the USC Trojans want to retain a major part of their coaching staff, as the school will reportedly attempt to retain offensive coordinator Clay Helton in the same position, according to Scott Wolff of the Daily News.

#USC will announce after the game that Clay Helton has been retained as offensive coordinator
— InsideUSC (@InsideUSC) December 21, 2013

Helton is reportedly a top target for Florida's open job, as Will Muschamp looks to replace dismissed offensive coordinator Brent Pease. The Gators job could be the only barrier preventing the Trojans from keeping Helton around in Los Angeles.

If Clay Helton is offered a job elsewhere, say Florida, then maybe he won't be back but otherwise is retained as #USC OC
— InsideUSC (@InsideUSC) December 21, 2013

It'd be a tough blow for Will Muschamp if he had verbally agreed to hire Clay Helton and lost him with USC's offer to stay on as OC.
— Zach Abolverdi (@ZachAbolverdi) December 21, 2013

He has been the Trojans' quarterbacks coach since 2010, and was promoted to offensive coordinator this season.

This season, the Trojans finished tenth in the Pac-12 in scoring offense, averaging 28.5 points per game. The only teams in the conference with worse scoring numbers were California and Colorado -- by far the bottom two teams in the conference.

USC's incoming head coach, Steve Sarkisian, was previously an offensive coordinator with the school.