Clay Helton: USC and new OC Kliff Kingsbury 'a beautiful marriage'

USC head coach Clay Helton met with reporters Wednesday for the first time since the Trojans hired former Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury as offensive coordinator, landing the biggest name on the market.

Helton's media session was to address the program's early signing class, but of course the questions quickly shifted to Kingsbury.

Helton didn't seem to mind. He called the pairing of USC's deep stable of athletic playmakers and Kingsbury's deep track record of elite offensive success "a beautiful marriage."

While there have been different suggestions or narratives of how the pairing came to be, Helton said that he sought out Kingsbury.

"When they let the Texas Tech staff go and I decided to make a change, he was the first one on my list. He was literally the first name. I reached out to him, and credit to him, he was like, 'Coach, this is a special place and I know how special it is,'" Helton said. "I had the opportunity to bring him out, to sit down. I wanted to see if it would be a fit for him and a fit for us, and it was. It was natural.

"It's something that he's always wanted to be able to do, to be at this place with these type of athletes in his system."

Helton was quickly asked a follow-up question, seeking affirmation that Kingsbury would indeed have the freedom to run his system.

Yes, Helton said.