A day after USC fired head coach Clay Helton just two games into the 2021 season, USC have begun a coaching search. According to ESPN NFL reporter Adam Schefter, Eric Bieniemy will emerge as a head-coaching candidate.
Helton was fired on Monday after the Trojans lost to in-state rival Stanford 42-28 in the first week of PAC 12 play. Helton went 46-24 in five years with USC, including one conference title and two division titles. The Trojans cornerbacks coach and associate head coach, Donte Williams, is taking over as head coach starting this weekend against Washington State.
With the sudden revival of the PAC 12, with UCLA beating LSU and Oregon’s upset victory against Ohio State over the weekend, USC needed to make a move. USC hasn’t been relevant since Pete Carroll in the mid-’00s. During Carroll’s tenure with USC, the Trojans won the national championship in 2004.
The team lost the title and wins after the NCAA imposed sanctions against them for “lack of institutional control” and banned them for two years of postseason play. Not long after the scandal, Carroll left USC to return to the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks.
With Helton’s firing, Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is on USC’s radar. Bieniemy has been a head coaching candidate for two years but was never hired. He is in his fourth season as an offensive coordinator for the Chiefs.
As Schefter reported, Bieniemy is from Southern California and has told people in the past that USC would be the only college coaching job he be interested in, which is a plus for USC.
If the Trojans can convince Bieniemy to be the head coach, Bieniemy will have no problem recruiting players that could impact the all-mighty SEC. With the recent alliance between the PAC 12, Big 10, and ACC, the Trojans are going to need firepower. Eric Bieniemy will be head coach very soon, whether it’s college or the NFL.
