USC Probably Hacked the Transfer Portal and Someone Should Probably Stop Them

Clay Helton has some questions to answer about his acumen as a football coach, but there can be no debate over the fact that he has mastered the transfer portal.

When it seemed that one of the best classes in the country was going to lose their prized recruit when 5-star wideout Bru McCoy transfered to Texas, Helton found a way to keep McCoy in Los Angeles. Helton was also able to keep wide receiver Velus Jones, who was considering a move to Auburn, while snatching former Florida cornerback Chris Steele away from Oregon.

Between Steele, Bru McCoy and Velus Jones, it appears Clay Helton has figured out a way to reverse engineer the Transfer Portal. https://t.co/urFKfzCXEo
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) June 5, 2019

Much like another coach who always seems a week away from being fired in Gus Malzahn and his Auburn teams, Helton's Trojans are always stuffed with 4 and 5-star talent, which leads to oodles of preseason hype before Helton's shortcomings relegate them to another 9-4 season. 2019 is gut-check time for USC's head coach.

It’s up to Clay Helton, Graham Harrell and Co. to make sure five-star talents Chris Steele and Bru McCoy haven’t been brought back to USC to be developed by another staff starting in 2020.

Here is my attempt to figure out what that would take, at least in the eyes of the fans: https://t.co/YyrX5nuxuS
— Brady McCollough (@BradyMcCollough) June 5, 2019

After flirting with being fired last season, Helton at least had the excuse of starting a true freshman quarterback and losing Sam Darnold to the NFL. With players like Jones, Steele, and McCoy in town, the time for excuses is over. It's a Pac-12 title or bust.