USC Now mailbag: Assistant coaching search and moral victories

There’s no rest for the weary.

It’s recruiting season, coaching-search season and lawsuit season at USC.

My name is Carlos and I am a current student slightly disappointed after driving 10 total hours to attend Saturday’s game.

I absolutely love USC Football and believe in the group of guys. I would have just felt better if Stanford beat us while the Trojans played at their best, and unfortunately that was not the case.

I just read the news that Clay Helton will release play-calling duties next season to a new offensive coordinator, which comes as a relief after a terribly called first half of offense in the Pac-12 championship game.

Is there any indication he will be hiring a power/pro-style coach so we can practice what we preach with regards to the run game or are we going to continue an ineffective pseudo-spread offense with not very mobile quarterbacks?

— Carlos Solorzano Jr.

Ten hours? That’s pretty good timing, Carlos. Someone must have a heavy foot.

Helton said he would explore “all avenues” when asked about potential assistants last Sunday. He did not give any indication which direction he would look. However, it seems likely that he will hire a coach shares a similar philosophy of run-first, physical football.

The search for assistants has maintained a relatively low-profile, with the exception of the buzz around former defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast and defensive line coach Ed Orgeron.

Pressure could begin to mount on Helton since Ohio State announced it hired Greg Schiano as a defensive coordinator and Alabama hired Jeremy Pruitt.

USC will be mediocre for the next 10 years. Four assistant coaches fired and Helton will bring in who to replace them and learn to create a winning team? If only it was that easy. Besides, who does Helton know?

— R.M. Price

Believe it or not, I don’t have access to Helton’s Rolodex.

Helton has coached at Duke, Houston and Memphis. His brother Tyson is the offensive coordinator at Western Kentucky and his father, Kim, has a long history in the coaching ranks.

Helton must have at least a few people he could call about coaching vacancies.

USC is a destination job, or a major steppingstone, for most assistants and it’s likely that several coaches have inquired about the open positions.

I look forward to next year with an intact offensive line, returning skill players and a quarterback who can throw a completion with the ball in the air over 15 yards. I believe Cody Kessler made one completion against Stanford (a team burned by Notre Dame deep) in which the ball traveled more than 15 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. It is amazing how well he passes with the opposition knowing everything will be short. Could USC be hiding Max Browne’s skill set from Saban? Is that why Saban hired Kiffin?

— Craig Schrager

Kessler certainly didn’t take many chances downfield against Stanford, or against USC’s last several opponents, for that matter.

But as far far as hiding Max Browne from Nick Saban? That is one heck of a conspiracy theory.

USC has been trying to win.

That’s not to say that Browne, perhaps, couldn’t have won. But it was clear how little focus was spent on next season, given that Kessler is graduating and Browne has played no meaningful snaps.

Saban and his defense will probably start salivating — after they play in the College Football Playoff — when they realize they’ll face a first-year starter.

Those kind of alleged ‘moral victories’ are really meaningful in top-level competition college football — NOT. And supposedly relevant “perseverance?” Please, the Pac-12 South sucked, so an often under-performing three-loss in-conference team became eligible to get creamed in the championship game. Get real, Lindsey! Time to quit making feeble excuses for USC football, I suggest.

— Greg Marlowe

Greg, happy to know you read “Five things we learned” last Sunday.

I’m as critical as anyone in my coverage of USC, and you’re right, this is big boys’ football and moral victories don’t count.

But five coaches in four seasons and drama that never seems to end?

USC might have more talent on its roster than any team in the conference, but at some point, all of those off-field shenanigans become taxing.

Surely, as an adult, you can appreciate that these young men haven’t quit despite several seasons of adversity. They deserve credit for that.

Questions or comments about USC? Email me at LNThiry@gmail.com or tweet @lindseythiry and I will respond to select messages in a future USC Now mailbag.