Full transcript from Coach Clay Helton's press conference at Pac-12 Media Day:
Opening statement:
CLAY HELTON: Hi, guys. Great to be back, and great to get started again with another season. Very proud of our coaching staff and our players for the work that they've put in in getting ready for this season in preparation for a great fall. You know, very proud of their mindset, too, and their approach to what we're doing. When we started after that Rose Bowl game and making some great memories, we went to both the staff and our players and said: Guys, wasn't that awesome? Made some unbelievable memories. And every kid and every coach said: Yeah, unbelievable, Coach. To make history was something truly special. But then I asked the next question: Are you satisfied? And to a man, not one hand rose. Because we understand what USC is about. It's about winning Pac- 12 titles, and it's about winning national championships. And the fact of the matter is we did not accomplish that. That's always our goal and always our expectation.
Looking at it from the head coach perspective, there were some things that I really felt that had to happen in the off-season to be able to get to where we want to go. The first thing was to be very fortunate with the retention of our staff. To be able to keep all three coordinators in Clancy Pendergast, Tee Martin, and John Baxter, I think, was absolutely huge for us. To be able to stay within the same systems, the same terminology, the expectations the players know that the coaches have for them is extremely important.
The next thing I thought we had to have was we needed to know the reality that this is a different football team than last year's team. There are 14 men that left our team to go on to the NFL to pursue their next step. And not only were they great players, they brought dynamic leadership. I think we addressed a lot of the talent issues, the loss of talent by bringing in 24 newcomers, freshmen that are going to help us, and also the development of the some of the kids that we red-shirted last year and some of our role players.
During spring, I thought the spring training we had was a true success in that area. The other thing that we need to do and the most important thing for me is the leadership qualities that those 14 men that left us provided. When I say the name Stevie Tu'ikolovatu, Mike Hutchings, Darreus Rogers, JuJu Smith, Justin Davis, Zach Banner, Chad Wheeler, those type of men, yes, they're great players, but they brought great leadership. Now our older brothers have left, and it's time for the younger brothers to step up. We put in Cam Smith into that mike backer role to be the quarterback of the defense. Uchenna Nwosu and Porter Gustin to take that position where Stevie Tu'ikolovatu brought that staple of leadership for us on the front. You look at Biggie Marshall and Marvell Tell and Chris Hawkins carrying what Adoree' Jackson did for us from a leadership standpoint.
Then Sam Darnold in his third year at USC now capturing an offense and being able to lead our offense to even new heights. It's an exciting time for us, it really is, to be able to start this new season, to board 24 new freshmen. And we know the expectations, and we welcome them. We look at it as an opportunity, not an obligation. We came to USC to win championships, and that will always be our goal. I brought two great young men with me today in Cam Smith and Sam Darnold. And any questions that you might have, we welcome them. So without further ado, feel free to ask.
Q. Coach, how are you handling the idea of you guys being the favorite not only to win the Pac-12, but to get to the championship?
CLAY HELTON: When you come to USC, you welcome those expectations. We've created a lot of momentum and a lot of confidence with what we did last season. And you look and you have guys like Sam Darnold and Cam Smith and Ronald Jones and Deontay Burnett, you have some pieces of the puzzle that are already in place, it makes you very excited for the season coming up. But you've also got to know the reality. There are holes we've got to plug to take care of two tackle positions, a nose tackle position. There is a lot of work to be done. Thank God we've got 29 practices before the opening ballgame versus Western Michigan.
Q. What do you think of the rule change with the two-a-day practices?
CLAY HELTON: It's created a little bit different aspect. It's added an extra week of knowledge. And you've got to be smart. I think coaching staffs around the country are going to have to understand that it is an extra week. We are going into the new RARA NCAA rule which gives our players a day off, a true day off during the week, which I think is an extreme advantage for them and their bodies and mentality. But it's something that each and every day you're going to have to look at your team and say, okay, where are we? And there may be some changes. You may have a full padded practice that you were planning on doing, but you've got some injuries and you have to back off a little bit. You'll have to gauge your team a little bit more, especially for us. You're talking about five straight weeks of training camp, plus 12 straight games, so we're going to have to manage our team extremely well. And thank goodness I have a good strength and conditioning staff, training staff with Russ Romano and Ivan Lewis that can help me in that area.
Q. Sam Darnold going into fall camp for the first time since the opening day started. What do you think that does for the cohesiveness of the offense?
CLAY HELTON: It provides us, just like we're staying in the same system, to know who your leader is right off the bat, and the things that he's accomplished are things that I think help us tremendously. But the thing that I've been impressed with Sam is his humbleness and humility in the process. We all see his skillset, but how he's approached this off-season from a work-ethic standpoint and trying to progress as a student of the game, our kids see that. Obviously there are some grand expectations for him, but he's welcomed those. That's part of being a USC quarterback. That's why you come to USC. You're the face of the program and you're the leader of the program.
Q. Coach, how will you replace Adoree' Jackson?
CLAY HELTON: I don't know if you can. I tell you, Adoree' is -- this is my 23rd year in college football -- one of the more special players and people I've ever been around. When you talk about a guy that's a dominant corner, can help on offense, can do kickoff and punt return, that's hard to replace. I think we have strength in numbers this year, really. We have some individuals that I think can help us at the corner position. We'll be finding our punt returner and kick returner. I think we've got some awesome candidates in those two areas. We've signed several young kids at wide receiver that we red-shirted last year that are going to have to come on and have a great chemistry with Sam and Cam and provide some of that explosiveness that Adoree' brought to the offensive side.
Q. What did you learn from the 1-3 start last year, and how did that make you a better coach moving forward?
CLAY HELTON: I understood how important relationships are. I had a huge advantage being with myself. I had been at USC for six years. Part of being a head coach is having the trust and relationship with your players that when you are in adverse times, that they trust the process. They trust when you tell them they're getting better each and every week, that they trust you're saying the right things to them and being brutally honest with them. Probably the biggest thing I've learned last year, it's not all about the Xs and Os, it's about the relationships with 18- to 21-year-olds and how important that is. Not in the good times, that's easy; but when things, that adverse situation, comes up, how you deal with it.
Q. How are you a better football team this year than you were a year ago?
CLAY HELTON: Without question, the lessons we learned last year. I thought our maturity that we gained from Game 1 to the Rose Bowl really showed. If you look at us from Game 1, I thought we were an immature football team. And we learned how to win games. We've learned how important it was to protect the ball, limit penalties, understand that it's not about the hype of the game or the environment of the game, it's about the preparation for the game. Those are lessons that we, our veterans, have carried on. Now what is the challenge? 24 newcomers coming in and that on-boarding process to bring them on and learn our culture and learn how we win and learn what it is to be a Trojan. That's why you love training camps. That's why you're excited as a coach and can't wait. I'm leaving right here from this thing to go have our first team meeting tonight. So I'm looking forward to that.
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Opening statement:
CLAY HELTON: Hi, guys. Great to be back, and great to get started again with another season. Very proud of our coaching staff and our players for the work that they've put in in getting ready for this season in preparation for a great fall. You know, very proud of their mindset, too, and their approach to what we're doing. When we started after that Rose Bowl game and making some great memories, we went to both the staff and our players and said: Guys, wasn't that awesome? Made some unbelievable memories. And every kid and every coach said: Yeah, unbelievable, Coach. To make history was something truly special. But then I asked the next question: Are you satisfied? And to a man, not one hand rose. Because we understand what USC is about. It's about winning Pac- 12 titles, and it's about winning national championships. And the fact of the matter is we did not accomplish that. That's always our goal and always our expectation.
Looking at it from the head coach perspective, there were some things that I really felt that had to happen in the off-season to be able to get to where we want to go. The first thing was to be very fortunate with the retention of our staff. To be able to keep all three coordinators in Clancy Pendergast, Tee Martin, and John Baxter, I think, was absolutely huge for us. To be able to stay within the same systems, the same terminology, the expectations the players know that the coaches have for them is extremely important.
The next thing I thought we had to have was we needed to know the reality that this is a different football team than last year's team. There are 14 men that left our team to go on to the NFL to pursue their next step. And not only were they great players, they brought dynamic leadership. I think we addressed a lot of the talent issues, the loss of talent by bringing in 24 newcomers, freshmen that are going to help us, and also the development of the some of the kids that we red-shirted last year and some of our role players.
During spring, I thought the spring training we had was a true success in that area. The other thing that we need to do and the most important thing for me is the leadership qualities that those 14 men that left us provided. When I say the name Stevie Tu'ikolovatu, Mike Hutchings, Darreus Rogers, JuJu Smith, Justin Davis, Zach Banner, Chad Wheeler, those type of men, yes, they're great players, but they brought great leadership. Now our older brothers have left, and it's time for the younger brothers to step up. We put in Cam Smith into that mike backer role to be the quarterback of the defense. Uchenna Nwosu and Porter Gustin to take that position where Stevie Tu'ikolovatu brought that staple of leadership for us on the front. You look at Biggie Marshall and Marvell Tell and Chris Hawkins carrying what Adoree' Jackson did for us from a leadership standpoint.
Then Sam Darnold in his third year at USC now capturing an offense and being able to lead our offense to even new heights. It's an exciting time for us, it really is, to be able to start this new season, to board 24 new freshmen. And we know the expectations, and we welcome them. We look at it as an opportunity, not an obligation. We came to USC to win championships, and that will always be our goal. I brought two great young men with me today in Cam Smith and Sam Darnold. And any questions that you might have, we welcome them. So without further ado, feel free to ask.
Q. Coach, how are you handling the idea of you guys being the favorite not only to win the Pac-12, but to get to the championship?
CLAY HELTON: When you come to USC, you welcome those expectations. We've created a lot of momentum and a lot of confidence with what we did last season. And you look and you have guys like Sam Darnold and Cam Smith and Ronald Jones and Deontay Burnett, you have some pieces of the puzzle that are already in place, it makes you very excited for the season coming up. But you've also got to know the reality. There are holes we've got to plug to take care of two tackle positions, a nose tackle position. There is a lot of work to be done. Thank God we've got 29 practices before the opening ballgame versus Western Michigan.
Q. What do you think of the rule change with the two-a-day practices?
CLAY HELTON: It's created a little bit different aspect. It's added an extra week of knowledge. And you've got to be smart. I think coaching staffs around the country are going to have to understand that it is an extra week. We are going into the new RARA NCAA rule which gives our players a day off, a true day off during the week, which I think is an extreme advantage for them and their bodies and mentality. But it's something that each and every day you're going to have to look at your team and say, okay, where are we? And there may be some changes. You may have a full padded practice that you were planning on doing, but you've got some injuries and you have to back off a little bit. You'll have to gauge your team a little bit more, especially for us. You're talking about five straight weeks of training camp, plus 12 straight games, so we're going to have to manage our team extremely well. And thank goodness I have a good strength and conditioning staff, training staff with Russ Romano and Ivan Lewis that can help me in that area.
Q. Sam Darnold going into fall camp for the first time since the opening day started. What do you think that does for the cohesiveness of the offense?
CLAY HELTON: It provides us, just like we're staying in the same system, to know who your leader is right off the bat, and the things that he's accomplished are things that I think help us tremendously. But the thing that I've been impressed with Sam is his humbleness and humility in the process. We all see his skillset, but how he's approached this off-season from a work-ethic standpoint and trying to progress as a student of the game, our kids see that. Obviously there are some grand expectations for him, but he's welcomed those. That's part of being a USC quarterback. That's why you come to USC. You're the face of the program and you're the leader of the program.
Q. Coach, how will you replace Adoree' Jackson?
CLAY HELTON: I don't know if you can. I tell you, Adoree' is -- this is my 23rd year in college football -- one of the more special players and people I've ever been around. When you talk about a guy that's a dominant corner, can help on offense, can do kickoff and punt return, that's hard to replace. I think we have strength in numbers this year, really. We have some individuals that I think can help us at the corner position. We'll be finding our punt returner and kick returner. I think we've got some awesome candidates in those two areas. We've signed several young kids at wide receiver that we red-shirted last year that are going to have to come on and have a great chemistry with Sam and Cam and provide some of that explosiveness that Adoree' brought to the offensive side.
Q. What did you learn from the 1-3 start last year, and how did that make you a better coach moving forward?
CLAY HELTON: I understood how important relationships are. I had a huge advantage being with myself. I had been at USC for six years. Part of being a head coach is having the trust and relationship with your players that when you are in adverse times, that they trust the process. They trust when you tell them they're getting better each and every week, that they trust you're saying the right things to them and being brutally honest with them. Probably the biggest thing I've learned last year, it's not all about the Xs and Os, it's about the relationships with 18- to 21-year-olds and how important that is. Not in the good times, that's easy; but when things, that adverse situation, comes up, how you deal with it.
Q. How are you a better football team this year than you were a year ago?
CLAY HELTON: Without question, the lessons we learned last year. I thought our maturity that we gained from Game 1 to the Rose Bowl really showed. If you look at us from Game 1, I thought we were an immature football team. And we learned how to win games. We've learned how important it was to protect the ball, limit penalties, understand that it's not about the hype of the game or the environment of the game, it's about the preparation for the game. Those are lessons that we, our veterans, have carried on. Now what is the challenge? 24 newcomers coming in and that on-boarding process to bring them on and learn our culture and learn how we win and learn what it is to be a Trojan. That's why you love training camps. That's why you're excited as a coach and can't wait. I'm leaving right here from this thing to go have our first team meeting tonight. So I'm looking forward to that.
Continued below...
