Clay Helton, who went from USC’s offensive coordinator to interim head coach to head coach in a matter of weeks, leading the Trojans to a Pac-12 South championship, was named 2015 Coach of the Year today by the Los Angeles Sports Council.
Helton became USC’s interim head coach in October when Steve Sarkisian was placed on leave and later fired in light of his struggles with alcohol. Helton was hired full-time as head coach Nov. 30, days after the Trojans defeated rival UCLA to win the Pac-12 South.
The Sports Council noted that Helton “succeeded in keeping the Trojans together during a challenging set of off-field circumstances.”
“Under his leadership, the Trojans won four straight conference games and defeated UCLA to win the Pac-12 South and advance to the conference championship game for the first time in the game’s five-year history,” according to the Sports Council.
The Trojans lost to Stanford in the Pac-12 championship game, then lost to Wisconsin the Holiday Bowl.
Helton will be honored during the 11th annual LA Sports Awards on Feb. 25 at the Beverly Hilton.
— Wire reports