Clay Helton addresses WR Devon Williams' decision to enter transfer portal
A day after sophomore wide receiver Devon Williams entered the NCAA transfer portal, USC coach Clay Helton was asked about the situation for the first time.
He kept his comments limited.
"Great kid, good player and wish him nothing but the best," Helton said.
Asked a follow-up question as to how much conversation he had with Williams or if he tried to change his mind, Helton doubled-down on the same response.
"Great kid, great player, wish him nothing but the best -- I'll keep all the conversations that we had personal," he said.
Williams caught just 4 passes last season as a true freshman after coming in as a 4-star prospect and a top-50 national recruit in the 2018 class. He did flash his potential late in the season, catching 3 passes for 77 yards and a 41-yard touchdown at Oregon State with starter Michael Pittman sidelined.
After both creating buzz during the spring and preseason while at other times showing some inconsistency with his hands, much was expected of Williams this fall in light of the coaches' comments about needing a deep WR rotation with this uptempo Air Raid offense.
There was almost no rotation in the season opener, though, and offensive coordinator Graham Harrell acknowledged he needed to do a better job in that regard. There was more rotation last weekend in the 45-20 win over Stanford. Williams played 10 snaps, catching 1 pass for 11 yards, while freshmen Munir McClain had 2 catches for 10 yards and Drake London had 3 grabs for 62 yards.
London played the most reps beyond the starting three, by a wide margin, but he and Williams are at different positions. Williams is slotted behind Pittman on the outside while London is an inside receiver, so it wasn't necessarily a decision to play one over the other -- unless Williams felt USC could have done a more creative job finding a way for him to get more involved.
Either way, he would have seemed a prime candidate to fill Pittman's void in the starting lineup next fall.
USC outside linebacker Hunter Echols, who had his own thoughts of leaving over the winter, said he tried to talk to Williams and convince him to stay but that ultimately he supports his decision.
"Devon's my guy so I have love for Dev. He's got to make the best decision for him,"r Echols said Wednesday. "It's hard when you leave the team, especially because I know he loves us, I know he loves the players here at USC, he loves the coaches. But he's got to do the best thing for him, and if being at USC is not the best thing for him I support him 100 percent. ...
"I talked to him. That's my guy so I talked to him. Obviously, I encouraged him to stay, but if USC's not the place for him then I want to support him whatever he wants to do."
Helton wasn't nearly as willing to discuss Williams' decision and whether there is an open door for a return as he was when quarterback Jack Sears entered the portal in late August.
Echols wasn't closing the door, though, for what it's worth.
"I made an emotional decision earlier this year and I wanted to hit the portal and leave, but this is my family, it's where I want to be. Hopefully he realizes this is his family and this is where he wants to be. He's a young kid, he's only a sophomore, he'll be all right, he'll be fine. If he does stay here, I'll be, 'Let's go, let's do it.' But if he decides to go somewhere else, I'm going to always support him -- that's my friend," Echols said.
"If he leaves I wouldn't be surprised, if he stays I wouldn't be surprised. I know he loves USC, I know that he knows he can ball here, so it's just up to him to make his decision."
Meanwhile, fans have parlayed Williams decision into concern for talented redshirt freshman Markese Stepp, who barely played last fall, didn't play on offense in the opener and then got 4 snaps at the end of the Stanford game (including 3 carries for 33 yards).
Helton was asked if Williams' situation would make him any more inclined to give Stepp more opportunity in case he too were frustrated with his lack of usage after a strong spring and even stronger preseason.
"Markese is doing a great job. He is a redshirt freshman, he's got a couple guys in front of him in Vavae [Malepeai] and Stephen [Carr]. He's a great teammate, he's got some guys that are older, and every opportunity matters -- he's done a great job on special teams, he's done a great job on offense," Helton said. "A little dinged right now to be honest with you, and kind of seeing where he's going to be game time. He's got a little bit of a calf, and we'll see where he's at game time, but we are carrying him. Did not practice today, but we'll see where he's at Saturday."