Lincoln Riley reveals where his relationship with Clay Helton stands

Fresh off its dominant 73-13 victory over Missouri State in its home opener, USC will host Georgia Southern on Saturday. This comes just one week before it kicks off Big Ten play against Purdue.

At a surface level, the Trojans’ clash with Georgia Southern seems like just another tune-up game. However, former USC head coach Clay Helton has found success with the program since he took it over in 2022. He was previously at USC from 2015-2021, where he led the Trojans to a 46-24 record with a Rose Bowl victory in 2016.

Current USC head coach Lincoln Riley discussed his relationship with Helton prior to their clash on Saturday. The answer might shock some.

“Yeah, I had crossed paths with him before I came here when I was with Oklahoma, just recruiting out here a couple of times,” Riley said during a media opportunity on Wednesday. “We sat down and talked. Honestly, I spent the most time with him when we played a coaches’ charity tournament at Pebble Beach every May and Clay’s been going out there for a long time.

“When I first got a chance to go, it was with some of the guys that he went out with when he was the head coach here. We got a chance to catch up and now I’ve seen him there for the past three years.”

Riley reveals Helton is ‘very complimentary’ of the USC program

“I’ve had a chance to sit down and really have some cool conversations with him and his staff. Phenomenal people. Upholds the reputation that I’ve always heard about him, so those have been some conversations I’ve appreciated talking ball and about a lot of common people we’ve worked with. We’ve talked USC and he’s been great.

“He’s incredibly complimentary of this place and you guys were around him; you saw the type of human being he is. He’s pretty special. I’ve cherished those times and they’re some of the reasons I most look forward to going to that tournament every year.”

Helton and Georgia Southern opened their 2025 campaign with a 42-14 loss on the road at Fresno State. Although it will certainly be an uphill battle for the Eagles on Saturday, a return to Los Angeles could be a sense of closure for Helton. After enjoying some really quality seasons with the Trojans, he was fired following USC‘s loss to Stanford in the second game of the 2021 season.

Kick-off for Saturday’s game between the two programs is scheduled for 7:30 PM ET. The game can be seen on FS1.