The lesson USC should learn from the troubled Clay Helton era | The Colin Cowherd Podcast 

Usually the only time I pay attention to Colin Cowherd is when Joel Klatt is correcting him about college football. But USC going to the NFL to get a coach is exactly the first thought I had. And not Urban Meyer, somebody youngish and with an eye to be a head coach in the NFL.

IF URBAN MYER CANNOT BE HAD… I go for ERIC Bienemy. Keep Donte Williams and get on the recruiting trail. And USC needs to shell out the cash for the assistants too. They gonna need first class play callers on both sides. Los ANGELES have been called the city of champions. And in this past decade I saw the KINGS DODGERS LAKERS win The Rams are a premier NFL team. USC football needs to reclaim that throne.

Yes I agree. But USC needs to focus on keeping Domani Jackson. He’s a generational talent.

USC is all about winning National Titles not Rose Bowls. Rose Bowls wins are for Teams like Stanford Washington Northwestern Wisconsin Michigan St

In making your argument for an “NFL guy” to be hired as USC Head Coach, you give some pretty poor examples: Dick Vermeil: He was a college coach (2 years at UCLA) BEFORE he went to the NFL. He never returned to the college ranks. Chip Kelly: Successful college coach BEFORE going to the NFL (2 good seasons, 1 bad season, & 1 totally disastrous season). On his return to college, his first 3 seasons were really bad, with this season (his 4th) still too early to judge. Butch Davis: Good but not great head coach in college BEFORE going to the NFL (where he flopped), and his return to college has been mediocre at best. Dennis Erickson: Successful college coach BEFORE going to the NFL. A failure upon returning to college (only 1 winning season out of 6). Jimmy Johnson: Successful college coach BEFORE going to the NFL. Never returned to college. John Robinson: Successful college coach BEFORE going to the NFL. A dud on returning to college. Does anyone even remember he coached UNLV for 6 seasons, with only 1 of them (his first) being a winning season? Pete Carroll was a rarity: an NFL coach, with no previous experience as a college head coach, who then became a very successful college coach after leaving the NFL. I can think of 2 instances where big time college football programs tried to repeat the Pete Carroll formula: Pitt, with Dave Wannstedt; and Nebraska, with Bill Callahan. It failed both times. USC needs to hire a coach with previous success in the COLLEGE ranks.

Excellent point on "every college reporter has the same names (of potential hires)". This ruins dozens of hours of ESPN punditry, but who cares?

"This is not Ames, Iowa" .. Love Colin!!

I agree with Colin Cowherd that the new head coach at USC should come out of the NFL. With the Athletes allowed to earn $ off their likeness and doing commercials, you need someone that can deal with them as men not boys.

Colin is well connected and close to the program now that he’s here in LA so he knows better.

One of Colin's better essays.

Yep. Agree 100%.

Deion Sanders! How crazy would that be.

YES INDEED! Eric Bienemy!

Collin nailed it… College football has become so predictable on who is playing in the National title every single year & its 2 out of the usual 4 teams 🥱😴🤷‍♂️💯

I wrote a book about USC called interesting terminations.

Maybe USC should cancel its football program for 5 years. Los Angelenos might start appreciating it.

USC has not been in contention for a National Championship in almost 15 years. It’s just not a relevant program anymore.

I'm going to call around to all kinds of different schools and say that I'm USC so they can double their coaching salaries

I like doug Pederson but idk about UsC, we need a young coach like Mcvey we need a coach who loves the lights

This is not Ames Iowa? LOL LOL LOL

Christopherson Peterson LOL

Jeff Fisher!!!!

It’s funny that Colin thinks he is being creative in suggesting a NFL type coach. Look at the last 25 years of coaches for USC. The majority of them are guys who coached in the NFL: John Robinson (2nd stint), Paul Hackett, Pete Carroll, Lane Kiffin. The only one who had major success is Pete Carroll. I think finding a coach is similar to a draft. You may have needs, but at the end of the day you need to pick the best talent. I’m surprised that people are dismissive of Luke Fickell. He is definitely ready for a big job. He learned from Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer. He proved he can turn things around quickly at Cincy and keep it going. Due to his experience, there is no doubt he would pick a great staff who can recruit. USC is such a draw in CA, that if he even has moderate success in his first two years, he would start landing top 5 recruiting classes. I don’t think Nick Saban had experience recruiting in Louisiana before taking LSU or Brian Kelly had national recruiting experience before ND. They both stabilized the programs and the recruiting fell in line.

What’s all the hype over Eric bienemy? He doesn’t even call the plays for KC. How do we even know he’ll be any better than Helton as a head coach? I want a proven winner. Can’t afford to fuck this one up

It's just not a desirable job and the program is a shell of what it used to be.

They wanted to hire me but I told them I need to control every single thing like every single thing.

Not really gonna matter..🍇..cause... the best players are now playing in "the south" where the best players "will always be"..... in the 90s....and earlier....... the best players alot of times were still in the streets.......... where as now.... they catching the best players at early ages........

Franklin does not want the USC job...#just_facts

Pete Carroll

My God, it ain't rocket science at USC, keep SoCal talent at home...wtf so easy

CHRIS PETERSEN is the Best fit at USC. PETERSEN with USC TALENT is what PAC 12 teams and SEC do NOT want. And it's exactly why they need to hire him.

Or just stick to old fashioned things like "who wins more games" or "who's got the most positive feedback from current & former players" or "who will put the young men 1st as opposed to themselves " you know, old fashioned has been boring crap like that.

The James Franklin that lost to helton? You mean clay helton 2.0? He couldnt win big games either. No way.

USC should go after Jack Del Rio if they can’t get Matt Campbell😎🤙👍. Del Rio would make USC a top three team and a top three defense in the country, no questions about it😎🤙👍☝️. We Are Sc, Trojans For Life And Go Trojans And Fight On To Victory✌️✌️✌️😎🤙👍

Eric Bieniemy should be the top choice for the SC job. SC needs to throw the bank at him. Eric is an offensive wizard. Eric helped groom Maholmes He fits into LA culture. He has Big time swag. Has won at the highest level which resulted in a championship. Is coaching under a first ballot hof coach in Andy Reid . Will be a force in recruiting. Eric Bieniemy or bust. Doug Peterson and James Franklin should be next choices if Eric says no.

why should they theyll still lose. change the culture! stop over charging tuition higher than IVY league!