Lynn Swann on win total Clay Helton needs: 'I won't go there on that one'

USC athletic director Lynn Swann went on the Dan Patrick Show on Friday and, among a range of topics, was asked the question most USC fans are surely wondering heading into this pivotal 2019 season.

Patrick asked Swann what the magic win total is for embattled head coach Clay Helton to remain in that position beyond this fall.

Trojans fans likely won't enjoy the answer.

"I won't go there on that one," Swann said. "I think we judge our coaches on a variety of things. Certainly we want to win, want to be at the top, but Clay is doing a great job motivating and helping these young kids have a productive 3-4 years at USC, working towards their college degrees. We had 19 players on our team last year that wore a graduation patch, which means they're graduating by the end of that semester or have already graduated. So, very proud of that and you want to move it forward.

"So I don't look at this as you've got to win 11 games, you've got to be undefeated, you've got to do this. And our goals remain the same. Do we want to be at the top? Absolutely, but where does that begin?"

Indeed, that's probably a question the USC fan base shares as well coming off the 5-7 nosedive last fall.

RELATED: Listen to Swann's full interview on the Dan Patrick Show here

The first question posed to Swann on the radio show was about why USC has found itself in this situation in the first place. The AD, even more embattled than his head coach, started with generalities of it being a process and the coaching turnover the program has experienced and added "it takes a while to get there if you haven't had good recruiting years."

But the reality is USC had the No. 3-ranked recruiting class in 2018 (with five 5-star signees), the No. 6 class in 2017 and the No. 10 class in 2016. The Trojans' 2019 class ranked 19th, which came after last season, but that ranking didn't include 5-star freshmen transfers Bru McCoy and Chris Steele. The point being, poor recruiting does not seem a valid explanation for USC having its worst season last fall since 2000.

"But I think Clay Helton will provide some stability, yes. Last year was a very disappointing year -- 5-7, no one's happy with that. But sometimes I think emotionally and mentally you get to a place and you thnk you've arrived," Swann said. "You haven't won a Pac-12 championship, but you back into a great Rose Bowl game and you [win] and all of a sudden everybody's hopes are up -- Oh man, that looks like our USC football team, a really dramatic win over Penn State. Then you come back and you win the Pac-12 championship, and everything seems to be going up and you start to feel really good about it, right?

"And you kind of move along and that sense of urgency doesn't take place, and there's some things that need to change and they don't change. So you have a very disappointing season. I think Clay understands that. I think he's brought back that sense of urgency, he's increased the intensity of everything they're doing on the football field and I think the coaching changes have been good."

Swann, who also spoke briefly to local reporters Thursday after the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the $315-million Coliseum renovation/upgrades, continued to reiterate that USC has made 18 staff changes in the football program since last season. It's clear that message is important to the Trojans' leadership, even if many of those additions are on the periphery or within support staff.

USC did switch offensive line coaches late in the season last year with Tim Drevno replacing Neil Callaway, who was let go; offensive coordinator Graham Harrell eventually replaced short-lived OC Kliff Kingsbury, who replaced Tee Martin; Mike Jinks came aboard as the new running backs coach (with Drevno vacating that spot); Keary Colbert moved from tight ends to wide receivers with special teams coach John Baxter adding TEs to his responsibilities; Chad Kauha'aha'a was hired to replace Kenechi Udeze as defensive line coach; Greg Burns was hired to replace Ronnie Bradford as defensive backs coach; and Joe DeForest was promoted internally from an analyst role to outside linebackers coach.

"You're talking about making changes, subtle changes, big changes, offensive coordinators, different coaches that come in. He wanted to upgrade what he was doing," Swann said of Helton. "I think Graham as our offensive coordinator coming in helps our offense a great deal because instead of using a system that three different head coaches at one time [at] USC kind of collaborated on, he simplified things. He got rid of all the old terminology that was created by three different coaches and he brings in a simplified terminology for the quarterbacks and receivers to the offense line. So it gets everybody on the same page. What does that allow you to do? It allows everybody to be athletes, not to overthink what you're doing. I think that was hugely important."

Swann was also asked about and discussed the Kingsbury saga and the USC athletics admissions scandal.

As for the football program, though, he went back to a comparison that has been made before, also by Helton, to the changes Notre Dame underwent a few years back after a 4-8 finish in 2016.

"We have a tough schedule, but you know, that's OK. It was just a couple years ago that one of our big rivals, obviously Notre Dame, was having the same kinds of issues, made changes and they've had a couple good years back to back," Swann said. "We look to improve and be better and we look for this team to show better."

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