USC's Clay Helton: 'What the future holds, that's for smarter men than me'

Clay Helton has kept his Trojans focused down the stretch of this season despite swirling speculation about his job status, and he reiterated his approach Thursday in his final comments before USC's regular-season finale with rival UCLA.

"I'm a guy that lives in the moment and right now the moment is UCLA. That's all I'm focused on," Helton said when asked if he thinks he's shown anything with four wins in the last five games.

"You always hope as a football coach that from Day 1 to the end of the year your team improves, and I've watched this team improve. I'm proud of our coaches for the way they've developed young people and to watch them play. What the future holds, that's for smarter men than me. My job is to go out there, compete like hell against UCLA, try to get the Victory Bell back on campus and worry about the moment. And the moment is, the focus is UCLA. This game is hard enough to worry about anything outside."

And yet, the discussion around this team seems to be entirely focused on Helton's future and the decision new athletic director Mike Bohn must make.

This, of course, stems more from the Trojans' 5-7 finish last season than their current 7-4 mark with a freshman quarterback and young team in general. But with USC ranked No. 69 in the Rivals recruiting rankings (11th among Pac-12 teams) and attendance sagging while fan frustration mounts, all attention has been fixed whether a new AD will decide the program needs its own fresh start.

"I've visited with Mike multiple times in the week, all three weeks we've sat down and visited. He stops by, I stop by his office. It's a really good working relationship," Helton said of his discussions with Bohn so far. "He's an open person, he's an open-door policy and he's been nothing but supportive. I couldn't have asked for anything more in this situation. It's not the easiest of situations and he's made it extremely comfortable, extremely welcoming and extremely supportive of our team. And that's all I can ask for as a head coach."

Helton was asked if Bohn has given him any indication of when they would meet to discuss his future, and he said that hasn't been broached in their discussions.

"We've stayed in the moment, to be honest with you," he repeated. "We've just focused each and every week on the opponent. That's what we've discussed, all our discussions have been about this particular week, what needs to go on. We've got a big game, we've got a big recruiting weekend. Those are things that we're focusing on right now. For us, I think you've got to live in the moment and put your best foot forward, so we haven't gotten into those discussions. It's been about doing what's right for our players.

"It's not about me. It's not about him. Right now it's about our players and helping them go to win a big game and hopefully a championship."

USC needs Utah to lose to either Arizona or Colorado in the final weeks for the Trojans to find a backdoor into the conference championship game, should they win over UCLA on Saturday.

Speaking more about Bohn, Helton said the new AD was back out at practice again Thursday showing his support.

"He's been phenomenal to be honest with you. I love his energy, I love his enthusiasm, I love his commitment to the student-athlete. And I love the support he's given me," Helton said. "He didn't know me coming in, and coming in and being in the team meetings and being able to say, 'We're proud of you, keep it going.' Being at practice. We had a bunch of former players out there today, he came out to the field, he's hanging out with us. He feels like one of us, and it's been really neat to see.

"Everything going on on campus is a transition, and anytime you have transition there's change. And for Mike to come in and just hit the ground running and be so receptive to everybody, including myself, the staff, our players, all 21 sports, I think he's doing a wonderful job. He has big visions for this place, and I'm glad that he's here. He's a guy that's going to do a wonderful job for this university."

Helton indicated that running back Vavae Malepeai is likely to make his return this week after missing five games following a minor knee surgery.

Malepeai traveled and went through warmups before each of the last two games but did not play.

"Vavae looked really good. I think he's confident. We're still day-to-day, but he's really progressed and it's looking more towards helping this week than not," Helton said. "I even asked him today and he's still confident, so if we can get through tomorrow and see how the warmup goes for Saturday we may get some actual play out of him. It's been a good rehab process, he's feeling really good about it, really confident about it so we'll see where it's at Saturday."

Linebacker Palaie Gaoteote, meanwhile, is expected to miss a third straight game with knee and ankle injuries.

"He's still going through the running progression. I think it's a longshot. He's still listed day to day, but I think it's a longshot," Helton said.

Utility defensive back Chase Williams (foot sprain) and wide receiver/kick returner Velus Jones (high-ankle sprain) are both out.

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