As Clay Helton clung to his job following a 5-7 season in 2018, the embattled coach’s USC salary continued to rise. During the 2019 season, he had the highest reported salary among Pac-12 football coaches, according to a federal tax return filed by the university and obtained by The Times.
Helton earned $4.813 million from USC and its related organizations from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020, an increase of more than $244,325 over the previous fiscal year, when a contract extension courtesy of previous athletic director Lynn Swann boosted his salary by more than 40%.