Clay Helton
Clay Helton went 76–53 as a head coach, 2013–2026, at USC and Georgia Southern. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (2026, 2–4); by them his record is 75–53. Share
- Record
- 76–53 career
- Seasons
- 13
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 1 season
- Born
- Jun 24, 1972
- Alma mater
- Houston 1994
- Best season
- 2016 10–3, No. 3
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | USC | 1–0 | Las Vegas Bowl W | |||
| 2014: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2015 | USC interim, remainder of season | 5–4 | T–1st | Holiday Bowl L | ||
| 2016 | USC | 10–3 | 2nd | Rose Bowl W | 3 | |
| 2017 | USC | 11–3 | 1st | Cotton Bowl L | 12 | |
| 2018 | USC | 5–7 | T–3rd | |||
| 2019 | USC | 8–5 | 2nd | Holiday Bowl L | ||
| 2020 | USC | 5–1 | 1st | 21 | ||
| 2021 | USC coached two of 12 games | 1–1 | ||||
| 2022 | Georgia Southern | 6–7 | T–4th | Camellia Bowl L | ||
| 2023 | Georgia Southern | 6–7 | T–5th | Myrtle Beach Bowl L | ||
| 2024 | Georgia Southern | 8–5 | 2nd | New Orleans Bowl L | ||
| 2025 | Georgia Southern | 7–6 | 4th | Birmingham Bowl W | ||
| 2026 | Georgia Southern | 3–4 (Wikipedia: 2–4) | ||||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Alijah Vera-TuckerNo. 14 pick, 2021
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 33 | 14–19 | 42% |
| Against top-10 teams | 14 | 5–9 | 36% |
| Against rivals | 34 | 18–16 | 53% |
| Conference games | 92 | 60–32 | 65% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 9 | 3–6 | 33% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 57 | 34–23 | 60% |
| At home | 67 | 50–17 | 75% |
| On the road | 63 | 31–32 | 49% |
| At neutral sites | 12 | 4–8 | 33% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 77 | 59–18 | 77% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 65 | 26–39 | 40% |
His own 142 games on file, 2013–2026, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Shaw 2013–2021 | 4–4 | Stanford | 8 | |
| Kyle Whittingham 2013–2020 | 5–2 | Utah | 7 | |
| Brian Kelly 2013–2019 | 1–5 | Notre Dame | 6 | |
| Mike MacIntyre 2013–2018 | 5–0 | Colorado | 5 | |
| Ricky Rahne 2022–2026 | 2–3 | Old Dominion | 5 | |
| Rich Rodriguez 2013–2017 | 4–0 | Arizona | 4 | |
| Jim Mora 2013–2017 | 3–1 | UCLA | 4 | |
| Charles Huff 2022–2025 | 1–3 | Marshall, Southern Miss | 4 | |
| Sonny Dykes 2013–2016 | 3–0 | California | 3 | |
| Kevin Sumlin 2018–2020 | 3–0 | Arizona | 3 |
Clay Helton’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Stanfordseries | 8 | 4–4 |
| Arizonaseries | 7 | 7–0 |
| UCLAseries | 7 | 5–2 |
| Utahseries | 7 | 5–2 |
| Coloradoseries | 6 | 6–0 |
| Californiaseries | 6 | 5–1 |
| Arizona Stateseries | 6 | 4–2 |
| Notre Dameseries | 6 | 1–5 |
Other roles
- Team captain, Houston 1994
From each season’s Wikipedia article.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Duke | Graduate assistant | |
| 1996 | Duke | Running backs coach | |
| 1997–99 | Houston | Running backs coach | |
| 2000–02 | Memphis | Running backs coach | |
| 2003–06 | Memphis | Wide receivers coach | |
| 2007–09 | Memphis | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2010–11 | USC | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2012 | USC | Passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2013 | USC | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2013 | USC | Interim head coach | |
| 2014 | USC | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2015 | USC | Offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and interim head coach | |
| 2015–21 | USC | Head coach | |
| 2022–present | Georgia Southern | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Fred GoldsmithDuke
- Kim HeltonHouston
- Rip SchererMemphis
- Tommy WestMemphis
- Lane KiffinUSC
- Ed OrgeronUSC
- Steve SarkisianUSC
Assistants who became head coaches
- Ed OrgeronOle Miss, USC, LSU
- Justin WilcoxCalifornia
- Marques TuiasosopoWashington
- Neil CallawayUAB
- Tyson HeltonWestern Kentucky
- Dave CampoDallas Cowboys
- Mike JinksBowling Green
- Donte WilliamsUSC
- Kevin WhitleyGeorgia Southern
Worked under (7)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fred Goldsmith | Duke | 1995–96 | 1995: graduate assistant; 1996: running backs coach | |
| Kim Helton | Houston | 1997–99 | Running backs coach | |
| Rip Scherer | Memphis | 2000 | Running backs coach | |
| Tommy West | Memphis | 2001–09 | 2001–02: running backs coach; 2003–06: wide receivers coach; 2007–09: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Lane Kiffin | USC | 2010–13 | 2010–11: quarterbacks coach; 2012: passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2013: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Ed Orgeron | USC | 2013 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Steve Sarkisian | USC | 2014–15 | 2014: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2015: co-offensive coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (9)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ed Orgeron | USC, 2013: defensive coordinator, defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator | Ole Miss, USC, LSU | |
| Justin Wilcox | USC, 2015: defensive coordinator | California | |
| Marques Tuiasosopo | USC, 2015: assistant head coach and tight ends coach | Washington | |
| Neil Callaway | USC, 2016–18: offensive line coach | UAB | |
| Tyson Helton | USC, 2016–17: passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Western Kentucky | |
| Dave Campo | USC, 2018–19: consultant | Dallas Cowboys | |
| Mike Jinks | USC, 2019–21: running backs coach | Bowling Green | |
| Donte Williams | USC, 2020: passing game coordinator and cornerbacks coach; 2021: assistant head coach, passing game coordinator and cornerbacks coach | USC | |
| Kevin Whitley | Georgia Southern, 2022–23: assistant head coach and cornerbacks coach | Georgia Southern |
Other assistants under him (27)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Clancy Pendergast | USC, 2013: defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach; 2016–19: defensive coordinator | |
| Jaron Fairman | USC, 2013, 2015: graduate assistant | |
| Mike Ekeler | USC, 2013: linebackers coach | |
| Pete Jenkins | USC, 2013: defensive line coach | |
| Tee Martin | USC, 2013: wide receivers coach; 2015: passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach; 2016–18: offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | |
| Chris Wilson | USC, 2015: defensive line coach | |
| Johnny Nansen | USC, 2015: assistant head coach and special teams and running backs coach; 2016–18: assistant head coach and linebackers coach; 2019: inside linebackers coach | |
| Keith Heyward | USC, 2015: defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator | |
| Peter Sirmon | USC, 2015: assistant head coach, linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| Ricky Brown | USC, 2015: quality control coach | |
| Ronnie Bradford | USC, 2016–18: defensive backs coach | |
| Bryan Ellis | USC, 2017: offensive assistant; 2018: quarterbacks coach; Georgia Southern, 2022–23: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Michael Hutchings | USC, 2018–19: graduate assistant; 2020: defensive quality control analyst | |
| Tim Drevno | USC, 2018–20: running game coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| Graham Harrell | USC, 2019–21: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Joe Bolden | USC, 2019: special teams quality control coach | |
| John David Baker | USC, 2019: offensive quality control coach; 2020: tight ends coach | |
| Seth Doege | USC, 2019–20: offensive quality control coach; 2021: tight ends coach | |
| Todd Orlando | USC, 2020–21: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Vic So’oto | USC, 2020–21: defensive line coach | |
| C. J. Ah You | USC, 2021: quality control coach | |
| Ryan Aplin | Georgia Southern, 2022–23: tight ends coach, IR and passing game coordinator; 2024–26: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Will Harris | Georgia Southern, 2022: defensive coordinator | |
| Brandon Bailey | Georgia Southern, 2023–25: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Clint Trickett | Georgia Southern, 2024: tight ends coach and passing game coordinator | |
| Taylor Housewright | Georgia Southern, 2024: SOA | |
| Mike Mutz | Georgia Southern, 2026: defensive coordinator |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | State payroll | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Georgia Southern | head coach | $881,181 | |
| 2023 | Georgia Southern | head coach | $761,670 | |
| 2022 | Georgia Southern | head coach | $735,325 |
Open Georgia (State of Georgia, unaudited): salary paid in the fiscal year from July to June, shown against the season inside it.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Helton’s teams went for it on 21% of fourth downs and on 36% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 56% of plays and took 24.7 seconds a play, 2015–2026.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 14 g | USC | 26 of 109 24% | 39% | 51% | 24.4 | +0.13 | |
| 2016 13 g | USC | 14 of 86 16% | 29% | 49% | 25.0 | +0.09 | |
| 2017 14 g | USC | 27 of 100 27% | 42% | 51% | 24.7 | +0.11 | |
| 2018 12 g | USC | 17 of 97 18% | 29% | 54% | 25.5 | 0.00 | |
| 2019 13 g | USC | 9 of 77 12% | 25% | 60% | 24.3 | +0.14 | |
| 2020 6 g | USC | 15 of 46 33% | 68% | 63% | 23.4 | +0.07 | |
| 2022 12 g | Georgia Southern | 22 of 93 24% | 36% | 63% | 21.4 | +0.13 | |
| 2023 13 g | Georgia Southern | 21 of 95 22% | 40% | 64% | 25.4 | +0.01 | |
| 2024 13 g | Georgia Southern | 16 of 90 18% | 33% | 54% | 25.8 | 0.00 | |
| 2025 13 g | Georgia Southern | 16 of 90 18% | 30% | 52% | 24.9 | +0.10 | |
| 2026 7 g | Georgia Southern | 11 of 55 20% | 43% | 60% | 27.0 | +0.09 | |
| All 130 g | 194 of 938 21% | 36% | 56% | 24.7 | +0.08 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.