The USC football program is nothing if not insular. Every athletic director sans for one has had a prior connection with the school, which predictably has resulted in all but two head coaches since 1925 sharing similar ties with the Trojans.
Current head coach Clay Helton was Troy’s offensive coordinator, as was Steve Sarkisian, Lane Kiffin, Paul Hackett, John Robinson and Ted Tollner. Even John McKay himself was on staff before being named USC’s head coach prior to the 1960 season.
Assistants haven’t been disconnected either. Since Helton was promoted to full-time head coach in 2015, he hired his brother, the coach he called his ‘second father’, two former Trojan greats, and then re-hired or retained several coaches who already coached at USC, including defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast, who chose to hire defensive backs coach Ronnie Bradford, whom he coached with twice before.