College Football

The Clay Helton era at USC has come to an end with his firing

Updated Sep. 14, 2021 12:54 p.m. ET

It took only two games for the USC Trojans to decide they needed to make a change in leadership.

Following a lopsided 42-28 loss at home Saturday night against Stanford, USC opted to fire head coach Clay Helton on Monday.

Immediately upon the firing of Helton, USC athletic director Mike Bohn released a statement about the "change in the leadership" that is needed within the program.

"As I committed to upon my arrival at USC, during the past two off-seasons we provided every resource necessary for our football program to compete for championships," Bohn said in announcing the dismissal. "The added resources carried significantly increased expectations for our team's performance, and it is already evident that, despite the enhancements, those expectations would not be met without a change in leadership."

Helton had been a member of the USC coaching staff since 2010, when he was hired as the quarterbacks coach. He became the head coach in 2015.

As head coach, Helton accumulated a 46-24 record, including a 10-win season and Rose Bowl win in 2016. The Trojans won 11 games in 2017 before a disappointing 5-7 campaign in 2018, then somewhat righted the ship to go 8-5 in 2019. USC was 5-1 in a 2020 season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But now, just two games into the 2021 season, USC is ready to make a change, and current associate head coach Donte Williams will serve as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

The future of the program is currently in question, and with USC allegedly not willing to foot the bill for buyouts of the top coaching candidates, it remains to be seen what direction they will go in next.

With this development, shockwaves were sent through the college football landscape.

Here is how social media reacted.

For more up-to-date news on all things USC, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!