USC has recent history of interim coaches at Notre Dame Stadium
Clay Helton’s time as USC coach officially is a thing of the past as he was fired Monday. Donte Williams will serve as interim coach until a proper replacement is named. USC athletic director Mike Bohn indicated in his released statement that the process will take a few months. That means when the Trojans travel to play at Notre Dame Stadium on Oct. 16, a recent program trend will be revived as pointed out by Twitter user #BuckMetrics:
When USC plays in South Bend next month, it will be the THIRD TIME IN THEIR LAST FIVE GAMES AT NOTRE DAME WITH AN INTERIM COACH
USC, your brand is dysfunction.
at least the idiots who rotted the institution to its core are more or less gone now
fix this crap, and no "USC GUY"
— #BuckMetrics (@buckmetrics) September 14, 2021
It’s true. Helton’s first road game against Notre Dame came in 2015 when he still had the interim tag. In fact, it was his first game in the role with the Trojans having just dismissed Steve Sarkisian. In 2013, Ed Orgeron was in his second game as interim coach after the firing of Lane Kiffin.
The common denominator with these games is the Irish won both of them, so it will be up to Williams to buck this trend of interim coaches losing at Notre Dame Stadium. Not even coaches without the interim tag have had much success in South Bend. The Trojans haven’t won there since 2011. Ending that skid might be the defining moment of the season the way things are going in Los Angeles.
