USC to fight on with new coach

Southern California fired football coach Clay Helton on Monday, two games into his seventh season in charge.

Athletic director Mike Bohn made the move two days after an embarrassing 42-28 home loss to Stanford that dropped the Trojans (1-1, 0-1 Pac12) out of the AP Top 25.

Donte Williams, the Trojans’ cornerbacks coach and associate head coach, is taking over as head coach. Williams, a Los Angeles-area native and the first Black head coach in USC football history, joined the program in 2020 and has played a major role in the Trojans’ significant recruiting advancements over the past two cycles.

USC visits Washington State this weekend for its road opener.

Helton went 46-24 during his improbable tenure in charge of a longtime West Coast college football powerhouse with 11 national championships. The career assistant coach twice took over as USC’s interim head coach before permanently getting his first head coaching job late in the 2015 season.

“Clay is one of the finest human beings I have met in this industry, and he has been a tremendous role model and mentor to our young men,” Bohn said in a statement. “We appreciate his many years of service to our university and wish him nothing but the very best.”

ARKANSAS FINED » The SEC has fined Arkansas $100,000 after Razorbacks fans rushed the field following a 40-21 win over Texas. The fans violated the league’s access to competition area policy that was adopted in 2004.

NEW QB IN WASHINGTON » Ryan Fitzpatrick is going on injured reserve with a hip injury, and Washington is turning to Taylor Heinicke to start at quarterback against the Giants on Sept. 16.

Cam Newton is not walking through that door, and Robert Griffin III is not walking through that door. This is Heinicke and Kyle Allen’s show for the foreseeable future, and coach Ron Rivera does not plan on bringing in a veteran QB any time soon.

“We like the guys that we have,” Rivera said. “We’ve had them play for us. They’ve done some good things for us, so we’ll see what happens.”

49ERS INJURIES » 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said tests showed cornerback Jason Verrett tore the ACL in his right knee, knocking out the team’s best player for the season at perhaps its thinnest position. RB Raheem Mostert will be out eight weeks with chipped cartilage in his knee.

NHL

COLUMBUS DROPS ASSISTANT

OVER VACCINATION » The Blue Jackets said that the team has replaced an assistant coach who declined to get a COVID-19 vaccination. Sylvain Lefebvre was replaced on coach Brad Larsen’s staff by Steve McCarthy because “Lefebvre has decided not to receive a COVID-19 vaccine and thus will not be able to perform the duties required of him given current NHL protocols,” according to a team statement. NHL coaches and other team staff who closely interact with players are required to be fully vaccinated.