A day after making a decision that reverberated throughout the college football world, firing embattled coach Clay Helton just two games into the season, USC athletic director Mike Bohn preferred to keep private what he shared with the players Monday as he and Helton broke the news to them.
But he wanted to emphasize how important that latter point was in the process of what unfolded, with Helton getting to address the team before any word leaked outside the building that he was out and Donte Williams would be taking over as interim coach for the rest of the season.
"For me, the most important thing was that they heard from Clay Helton. They heard from Clay Helton and Mike Bohn and Donte in that order, and that was really important to me. Really important to me and it was important to them and it was important to Clay," Bohn said Tuesday, as he met with reporters for the first time since the decision.
"And as many of you know and have been a part of a transition whether it's here at USC or anywhere else, head coaches are often not provided the opportunity to say goodbye to their players. And that is a sense of grace that represents USC and represents our athletic department that I was really pleased to be able to put together with something that was so difficult."
The execution of the decision was surely difficult, as Bohn and senior associate AD Brandon Sosna had developed a genuine appreciation for Helton, how he carried himself and how he represented the program and university.
But the decision itself didn't take much time. The wheels were actually in motion by Sunday, less than a day after USC went into the Coliseum as 17-point favorites and fell behind by 29 points in the fourth quarter to Stanford on the way to a jarring 42-28 loss.
To Bohn's point, though, they didn't want to do anything to disrupt the schedule or call a special team meeting and raise any red flags that would lead to players learning the news from an outside source or before they were all gathered together. So Helton held his Sunday night media call with reporters, the next morning progressed as normal and at 1:30 p.m. Monday in advance of the regularly-scheduled pre-practice team meeting, Bohn and Sosna met with Helton to tell him that he was being let go, per a source.
One of the only other people to find out before that 2:10 team meeting was Williams, who was asked if he was ready to take on the interim role. He was told he could call his wife but nobody else, as they were intent on keeping the circle of information tight.
"I have tremendous respect for Clay Helton as a coach and a man. I think that’s why we worked tirelessly and so hard and took extreme measures yesterday that this football team heard from Clay personally and me yesterday about the change in the direction of our head coach. That was really important to us," Bohn emphasized.
For the players, it came as a true surprise. For many, it landed hard..
"Hurt for sure. For myself, Coach has always been — had a huge impact on me and I signed here with him in mind. We wanted him to be the next Pete Carroll. We wanted to lift him up and be great," redshirt senior safety and team captain Isaiah Pola-Mao said. "Of course, things don’t go our way, stuff happens in this business, but he’s always with us. He’s always part of this family."
Added junior wide receiver Drake London: "It was heart-wrenching for a lot of us, especially the guys he’s all recruited and stuff like that. He’s such a good man to us on and off the field. It sucks to see him go, but I’m just a player and like Isaiah said, it’s a business."
