The coaching carousel started slowly on Sunday as athletic directors take stock of their respective football programs.
Reports say Texas Tech is parting ways with Kliff Kingsbury which shouldn't come as shock after he posted a third-straight losing season. Likewise, Larry Fedora is out at North Carolina.
A couple mild surprises however also came Sunday afternoon as both Lovie Smith at Illinois and Clay Helton at USC were retained.
Smith, now 9-27 through three seasons at Illinois, received a two-year contract extension would keep him in Champaign through 2023. Not a bad reward after back-to-back seasons finishing in the basement of the Big Ten West.
Out in Southern Cal, Helton did go 10-2 a year ago but declining attendance and a 5-7 season was thought to likely spell doom. Instead, Helton didn't get a contract extension but did get some love from athletic director Lynn Swann.
Clay Helton is our head coach and he will continue to be our head coach.
— USC Trojans (@USC_Athletics) November 25, 2018
USC AD Lynn Swann explains his decision in a letter to the #TrojanFamily. #FightOn pic.twitter.com/wjr1VMv28w
Helton has three years and $15 million left on his contract.
