It has been a questionable hiring process for USC since the Trojans parted ways with Steve Sarkisian in October.
First Pat Haden hired an interim coach on a permanent basis before the college football coaching carousel had even begun to spin in December. Helton was rewarded for getting USC to the Pac-12 Championship game, but was outclassed by Stanford, leading to more questions about the timing and decision-making process behind the hiring. That was only exacerbated by reports that other candidates were interested in the job but the Trojans were not willing to wait until the end of the season to talk to them.