By BJ Bennett
SouthernPigskin.com

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Clay Helton comes to Statesboro from Southern Cal, where he compiled a 46-24 overall record.

With six national championships and eleven conference titles, Saturdays, at Georgia Southern, have long come with a spotlight. Announcing the hiring of Clay Helton on Tuesday, the Eagles just made a national statement mid-week.

The seemingly-sudden news of Helton’s hire has college football’s full attention.

Helton comes to Statesboro from Southern Cal, where he compiled a 46-24 overall record and went 36-13 in the Pac-12. Among other accomplishments, Helton won a league championship, three division titles and a Rose Bowl with the Trojans. His teams finished in the national top ten twice, defeated a dozen ranked opponents and were slotted 21st at the end of last season. This year, under Helton, Southern Cal was ranked as high as 14th after a season-opening win over San Jose State.

During his tenure in Los Angeles, Helton didn’t just win here and there, he made history. Helton had more wins through his first two years, with 21, than any other coach at Southern Cal, also becoming the school’s first and only coach to reach double-digit wins in both of his first two seasons. With Helton at the helm, the Trojans won 13 games in a row from 2016-2017. Overall, he went 11-4, including a 5-1 mark in 2020, over his last 15 games at Southern Cal.

An accomplished innovator and play-caller, Helton previously served as the offensive coordinator for both the Trojans and, previously, Memphis. Players he has worked with include Matt Barkley, Sam Darnold, Ronald Jones II, Cody Kessler, Michael Pittman, Jr., JuJu Smith-Schuster, Amon-Ra St. Brown and DeAngelo Williams. Helton, himself, played quarterback at Auburn and Houston.

A proud pigskin pedigree follows Helton to Georgia Southern. His father Kim played at Florida, was the offensive coordinator for the Gators, Florida, Miami and UAB, the head coach at Houston from 1993-1999 and spent 12 seasons as an assistant in the NFL. The elder Helton is now an offensive analyst at Western Kentucky, where Clay’s brother Tyson, formerly at Tennessee and USC, is the head coach.

Helton, coming from the nation’s second-largest media market, brings showcase credentials to Georgia Southern. Right away, his resume is one that resonates. Bright lights will be on the ‘Boro.

“What a great day for Eagle Nation with the announcement of Clay Helton as the new head coach of Georgia Southern football,” Georgia Southern Athletic Director Jared Benko shared in a release. “Clay is renowned for not only his coaching abilities but for the person that he is. He’s an elite offensive mind who has produced record-setting offenses and high NFL Draft picks everywhere he’s coached.

It’s a signature hire for Benko, introduced in March of 2020, one that moves the needle around the country.

“I’ve enjoyed getting to know Clay throughout this process, and I know he’s committed like I am to the holistic development athletically, academically and socially of all of our student-athletes. He also takes great pride in producing men of character and future leaders.” Benko continued. “During this interview process, Clay demonstrated a thorough understanding of what it takes to be not only to be a head coach but to win at an elite level and he is the best choice to lead our football program here at Georgia Southern.”

An established individual name, Helton embraces the collective brand that the Eagles have built. Georgia Southern football has a special story. Helton is ready to add to it.

“This football program represents a tradition of excellence spread over the past 40 years but has won six national championships and three bowl games in that short amount of time. The passion and love its alumni and fans have for the University are second to none. Georgia Southern has always prided itself on the highest levels of success, and I welcome those expectations,” he explained in a statement.

In a growing and expanding Sun Belt Conference where multiple teams have emerged in the national rankings, Helton’s standard, for Georgia Southern, will be comprehensive. The big stage is where the Eagles were born and, as stated on Tuesday, where the Eagles belong. Helton, continuing to build on the successes of his predecessors, has a vision focused on the little things and the big picture.

“We will have a staff and a team representing the toughness, discipline and GATA mentality on which this program was founded,” Helton continued. “I cannot wait to get started to build a football program that is consistently winning championships and is the platinum standard of college football on a national scale.”

Though there aren’t many direct regional ties, Helton, having moved roughly 2,400 miles east, is now home. He was born in Gainesville, Florida, the same town as the incomparable Georgia Southern legend and College Football Hall of Famer Adrian Peterson. There will certainly be some new introductions for a coach coming from across the country; Helton, history and tradition have already met.

Helton was just at one of college football’s premier programs. He is coming to one, too. Of that, Georgia Southern’s new head coach is well aware.