Less than a year ago, Keyshawn Johnson stood before USC’s football players, an emissary of sorts from the Trojans’ glorious past.
USC had just fired its coach, Steve Sarkisian, and chosen Clay Helton as the interim leader. Among fans and pundits, names of possible permanent replacements swirled. But players on the team, and many former players, thought they already had their man: Helton.
“All you're gonna hear, ‘Well, he’s not the guy. Get him out of here. Why don’t we go get Chip Kelly?’ ” Johnson, a former USC receiver, said as he stood in a semicircle of players.