Clay Helton and Alex Grinch both had coaching experience in the Pac-12. They both knew the Los Angeles recruiting scene and had established local connections. They were both part of coaching staffs which won New Year’s Six bowl games. Clay Helton won the 2017 Rose Bowl at USC. Alex Grinch won the 2019 Rose Bowl at Ohio State and the 2020 Cotton Bowl at Oklahoma under Lincoln Riley. Both Clay Helton and Alex Grinch won conference championships. Helton won the 2017 Pac-12 title at USC, while Grinch won multiple Big 12 titles with Riley at Oklahoma. Both men could have been amazingly great fits for the UCLA football program after Chip Kelly went to Ohio State, but the Bruins instead chose DeShaun Foster, an alumnus and a longtime assistant at the school.
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