Embattled Clay Helton Vows Trojans Will Be Ready…This Time

Perhaps it would have served as a springboard, launching the Trojans into Pac-12 title contention. Or maybe it would have been a wake-up call, vindicating every lingering doubt about the program’s direction.

Instead, amid the reality that is college football in 2020, there will be no matchup Saturday of dueling powerhouses. For USC, there may be no fall football at all.

The week college football was meant to kick off in earnest, pre-pandemic, workouts remain on hold at USC because of positive cases of COVID-19. On a Thursday night he otherwise would have finalized his plans for Alabama, Helton was at home watching South Alabama upset Southern Mississippi, soaking in what little college football he could find.

Still, he’d prefer not to linger on what might have been or dwell on the Pac-12’s decision to delay. He has “mixed emotions” about the weekend, he says, but he’s put Alabama out of his mind. He has told his players to do the same.

“I’ve always been one that lives in the moment,” Helton said. “I’m focused on the priority of getting our team ready for the next opportunity.”

All of that could be unnecessary, of course, if changes made over the offseason have their intended impact. A revamped coaching staff and rebuilt defense under new coordinator Todd Orlando were supposed to debut against Alabama. Optimism abounds for both; though, even Helton has yet to see his new, full defense in action.

With public health officials still limiting gatherings in Los Angeles, USC has instead spent most of the past month since postponement on fundamentals. Before workouts were put on pause, players spent five of 12 allotted weekly hours working solely on technique.

“I’ll tell you, the two weeks we’ve had of that, it’s been a joy,” Helton said. “It took us back to the grassroots of football. Six to 12 kids out there at a time, you’re literally going back to the basics, fundamentals, techniques, it was awesome.”

That work was abruptly shut down on Aug. 26. Shortly after the decision was made, Helton called a team meeting to discuss it. He tried to keep a positive tone.

“In this arena we’re in, those kids went 50 days of having no positive tests, being able to train in a safe environment, really having a great discipline about themselves to be able to allow us to do what we love,” Helton said. “At some point in time, it was inevitable that there would be positive cases. It’s how you react to those positive cases.”

He still has hope for a season. A major breakthrough in testing, which will allow for daily, rapid tests within the conference, could make a rescheduled season possible sooner than Jan. 1. 

“It’s always great to have hope, but it’s important to be a realist,” Helton said. “We have more steps to go. But when they’re ready, we’ll be ready.”

USC will re-evaluate on Tuesday if it’s ready to return to workouts, after two full rounds of testing.

On the Saturday his team was otherwise set to clash with Alabama, Helton said he would be duct-taped to his cellphone, calling 2022 recruits, with whom contact was just allowed by the NCAA.

It’s not exactly the way he envisioned his Labor Day weekend.

latimes.com

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