One of the main reasons Clay Helton annoyed the USC fan base — beyond the central fact that he didn’t win much — is that he made optimistic declarations when the reality on the ground did not offer much cause for optimism.
Fans want to be optimistic, but if the actual situation is bleak, fans don’t want to hear how great everything is. Helton sold an optimistic line of analysis when the truth was far worse. No one benefited from that dynamic at USC. Coaches have to be honest not only with themselves, but with their players and their fan base. Helton failed to do that, and it’s a big reason why accountability and discipline were lacking in the Helton era.
In Year 1 under Lincoln Riley, it’s important for USC players to not get caught up in the hype, and to work hard to earn back the Trojans’ elevated place in the college football world. It won’t be given to them, even though pundits such as myself think the Trojans are going to be nationally relevant this year.
It’s up to the players to make it happen, and until it does, nothing should be assumed or taken for granted.
Jonah Monheim conveyed this precise point when he talked to 247Sports earlier this week:
“I think that’s for the O line. That’s for the offense. It’s for the whole team. We’ve been working with Coach Riley almost nine months now but at the end of the day, that’s just us working within ourselves. We haven’t shown anything, we haven’t proved anything. And again, you’ve just got to battle every single day. As much as it is a process, you can’t be worried about the outcome. You’ve got to work on the day-by-day process and getting better daily and just focus on what you can control and things like that. And yeah, at the end of the day, we’ve got to prove it.”
This mature view of the team should make every USC fan quietly confident that the Trojans will handle their business the right way in 2022.
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