Dear Mr. Football: Were the football seasons of any Pac-12 school affected by the Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918?
A: Arizona, ASU, Utah and UCLA didn’t play. Washington played just two games, but didn’t open the season until Nov. 23. Arizona’s football operation was shut down when the Army took command of the UA campus.
USC played six games, delaying the season until Nov. 23 and completing it on Christmas Day. The difference was that it was a scramble to find opponents. Sound familiar? Pac-12 schools played, among others, the San Pedro Navy, the Mather Field Pilots, the Standifer Shipbuilders and the Multnomah Athletic Club.
In October 1918, the Los Angeles mayor’s office issued an ordinance banning public gatherings. But that order expired and the Trojans opened their home season Dec. 14 against Cal.
Cal went 6-2 in 1918, playing more games than any other Pac-12 school, and was the only school to start its season as scheduled, on Oct. 5. How times change.
Dear Mr. Football: How did oft-criticized USC coach Clay Helton get a five-year contract extension in February 2018?
A: Former Trojans athletic director Lynn Swann, he of Pittsburgh Steelers lore, extended Helton’s contract through 2023, which according to the Los Angeles Times, paid him $4.6 million last year. What was Swann thinking?
“We want to follow the model of the Pittsburgh Steelers,” said Swann. “They’ve only had three coaches since 1969.”
Including Helton in the same conversation with Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin is more than a stretch. But it continued to illuminate how many college athletic directors simply make bad hiring choices. Helton’s Trojans have gone 14-12 since his contract was extended.
Dear Mr. Football: Utah’s Kyle Whittingham was just awarded a contract extension through 2027. Who will he be coaching against in the Pac-12 South in 2027?
A: Here’s the roll-call for the 2027 Pac-12 South:
UCLA: Chip Kelly — or is it Clay? I can’t get it straight — will be the head coach at his alma mater, New Hampshire. He will be replaced by Iowa State’s Matt Campbell.
USC: Clay Helton — or is it Chip? I keep getting those L.A. underachievers mixed up — will be the quarterbacks coach at Arkansas, the last state he coached in before he stepped into the fire at USC. He will be replaced by Boise State’s Bryan Harsin.
Arizona: Kevin Sumlin, at 63 years old, will be a Big 12 Networks commentator, living part of the year at his new second home at Playa del Carmen, on the Mexican Riviera. He will be replaced by Sonny Dykes.
Arizona State: Herm Edwards, at 73, will be president of the men’s club at Pebble Beach Golf Links, living the good life on a home overlooking the Pacific Ocean. He will be replaced by Antonio Pierce, former UA linebacker.
Colorado: Karl Dorrell will be the wide receivers coach for the Los Angeles Rams. He will be replaced by Nevada coach Jay Norvell. Ralphie the Buffalo will finally run at Folsom Field again.
Utah: Whittingham, at 68, will be coaching, lifting weights and riding his Harley Davidson to Rice-Eccles Stadium, even in a snowstorm. The school will unveil a statue of Whittingham prior to the 2027 opener. “I think I could make it until I’m 80,” he’ll say. “We’ve got to get to a Rose Bowl sooner or later.”
USC coach Clay Helton, center, leads his players onto the field before last year’s Holiday Bowl game against Iowa.
Dear Mr. Football: How did Helton rise through the ranks to become USC’s head coach?
A: His big break came in 2000 via former Arizona offensive coordinator Rip Scherer (1988-90), who hired Helton to be his running backs coach at Memphis. Helton was 28.
Scherer’s Memphis team went 4-7 that season, and he was fired. His assistants scattered. It’s a lesson in the Coaching 101 handbook. Here’s what happened to Helton’s coaching partners from that 2000 Memphis team:
• Scherer has gone on to coach at Kansas, Southern Miss, Colorado, UCLA and for the Cleveland Browns, Carolina Panthers and currently is an analyst for the Los Angeles Chargers;
- Charles Coe is the head coach at Missouri Baptist College;
- Rick Mallory and Tommy West are assistants at Middle Tennessee State;
- Rick Whitt is the director of admission at the all-boys McCallie School in Chattanooga;
- Hank Hughes is the line coach at Penn;
- Tim Walton is an assistant coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars;
- Russ Huesman is the head coach of the Richmond Spiders.
Helton is the one Memphis coach from 20 years ago who put his career on an upward trajectory, surviving Scherer’s firing and somehow moving from a job as quarterbacks coach at Arkansas State — which went 4-8 in Helton’s only season there, 2010 — to USC’s quarterbacks coach.
Figure that one out.
Dear Mr. Football: USC’s depth chart lists 13 starters from the Los Angeles metro area and 29 on the two-deep charts from SoCal. Is that a significant recruiting advantage?
A: Put it this way: Arizona has two starters from Tucson: sophomore tackle Jordan Morgan of Marana High School and wide receiver Jamarye Joiner of Cienega High School. Rhett Rodriguez of Catalina Foothills High School is the presumptive No. 2 quarterback. That’s it. Three local guys in the two-deep mix.
Morgan becomes the first Tucsonan to start on the offensive line since Daniel Borg of Ironwood Ridge started six games in 2006-07.
It’s not a legacy position. Catalina Foothills’ tackle Darren Safranek started five games in 2001 and Wayne Wyatt of Mountain View started 17 games at center in 1996, a period in which Desert View guard Willie Walker started 22 games.
That’s it over 25 years. The leading offensive line starters in UA history from Tucson are Sabino’s Jeff Kiewel, Salpointe Catholic’s John Fina, Sahuaro’s Mike Freeman and Palo Verde’s Jim Arneson, all of whom played in the NFL.
Dear Mr. Football: Does being a team captain as a sophomore — the first in school history — indicate that Grant Gunnell will lead Arizona to success?
A: Gunnell is one of just 11 quarterbacks appointed/elected team captain since 1940. Here’s how the others did while serving as captain:
1958: Ralph Hunsaker, 3-7. Coach Ed Doherty was fired.
1961: Eddie Wilson, 8-1-1. Perhaps the second-best season in school history.
1962: Ken Cook, 5-5. But UA did beat ASU.
1975: Bruce Hill, 9-2. But UA lost “The Catch” game in a controversy at ASU.
1992: George Malauulu, 6-5-1. The debut of “Desert Swarm” defenses.
1995: Dan White, 6-5. The end of the “Desert Swarm” period.
2000: Ortege Jenkins, 5-6. The end of the Dick Tomey years.
2007: Willie Tuitama, 5-7. But it included a stunning win over No. 2 Oregon.
2008: Tuitama, 8-5. The UA’s best season in a decade.
2010: Nick Foles, 7-6. Double-overtime loss against ASU wrecked season.
2011: Foles, 4-8. Mike Stoops was fired.
Essentially, being a captain QB at Arizona didn’t turn out well. Three coaches were fired. Two everlasting losses to ASU continue to sting.
Gunnell isn’t likely to start his captain’s career with a victory over USC, but if anyone’s going to save Kevin Sumlin’s job for another season or two, Gunnell is the man. No one said it will be easy.
USC 41, Arizona 20.
