Los Angeles was the center of the sports universe this past weekend, which may have obscured the fact that USC suffered their first home loss in 19 games when they fell to Arizona State on Saturday. The result dropped the Trojans to 4-4 on the season and was their second straight Pac-12 loss that all but ended their chances of repeating as conference champion.
Needless to say, that has put head coach Clay Helton firmly on the hot seat among the fan base and the heat is apparently being felt because the school announced on Monday afternoon that offensive line coach Neil Callaway was being relieved of his duties and Helton was taking over as play-caller starting with the team’s upcoming game at Oregon State.
Offensive coordinator Tee Martin will retain his title (and also coach receivers) and have input on game days but is no longer the primary play-caller any more.
“I felt it was an appropriate time to become more involved in the offense as we continue to develop our team for the future,” Helton in a statement. “Tee and I have had conversations about this decision and he was supportive. He has done a tremendous job here. He will stay involved with the offense as he remains the offensive coordinator, helps put together our practice and game plans and serves as my offensive eyes during games.
“I want to thank Neil for all his hard work at USC. He is an outstanding coach and a great friend. I wish him nothing but the best in the future.”
Helton does have plenty of play-calling experience with the cardinal and gold before having served as OC from 2013 to 2015 and been the quarterbacks coach prior to that.
Tim Drevno, who joined the coaching staff from Michigan in the offseason, will handle both the offensive line and running backs (his prior focus) to take over for Callaway.
Needless to say, this is a big shakeup for the program as the Trojans enter a key stretch over the month of November.