As USC's preparation for the Cotton Bowl gets underway, the Trojans are without one of their top offensive assistant coaches.
Tyson Helton, USC's quarterbacks coach and pass game coordinator, has left the Trojans to reportedly become the offensive coordinator at Tennessee. According to a report from Joey Kaufman of the Orange County Register, Helton will not coach in the Cotton Bowl against Ohio State on Dec. 29.
Clay Helton confirmed Tyson Helton is joining Tennessees coaching staff. "We have some of the best coaches in the country, and it does not surprise me to see our coaches get job offers."
— Joey Kaufman (@joeyrkaufman) December 13, 2017
Bryan Ellis, an offensive administrative assistant, will coach USCs quarterbacks for the Cotton Bowl in place of Tyson Helton. Ellis was previously an assistant at Western Kentucky.
— Joey Kaufman (@joeyrkaufman) December 13, 2017
Under the tutelage of Tyson Helton, USC head coach Clay Helton's younger brother, USC quarterback Sam Darnold has completed 63.7 percent of his passing attempts (277-of-435) for 3,787 yards and 26 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. The Trojans' passing offense as a whole ranks 19th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in passing yards per game (294.6) and 23rd in passer rating (149.4).
As you might have heard, Tennessee nearly ended up taking Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano to be its head coach, but ultimately backed out of what would have been a six-year, $27 million deal with Schiano, allowing the Buckeyes to keep Schiano for now.
USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin, a former Tennessee quarterback, was also a speculative candidate for the head coaching job in Knoxville. As it turned out, however, the Volunteers ended up taking one of the Trojans' other offensive assistants to be an assistant on new Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt's staff.
