Clay Matthews Wishes USC Had Waited to Hire Chip Kelly

Clay Matthews wishes USC had waited to go after Chip Kelly instead of hiring Clay Helton before the Pac-12 Championship game.

During an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show on Friday former USC linebacker and current Packers Pro Bowler Clay Matthews said that he wished USC would have waited to hire someone other than Clay Helton.

Eisen Show producer Chris Law tweeted the quote:

Matthews singled out Chip Kelly as an option available for the Trojans while citing disappointment over USC’s performance against Wisconsin in the Holiday Bowl.

Kelly was at times rumored to be interested in the job though there were other murmurings throughout the holiday period that he had always intend to stay in the NFL. He ultimately was hired as the new head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.

More from Reign of Troy

• Markese Stepp enters transfer portal intending to leave USC football
• USC football’s Alijah Vera-Tucker declares for NFL Draft
• USC football adds Xavion Alford as transfer from Texas
• USC Podcast: RoT Radio Ep. 396 on the Football Season’s Fallout
• Talanoa Hufanga named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, USC football with five first-teamers

Athletic director Pat Haden announced the hiring of Helton after his Trojans beat UCLA at the Coliseum to earn a spot in the Pac-12 Championship game. USC went on to lose to Stanford and then fell to Wisconsin at the Holiday Bowl, leaving Helton 0-2 as a permanent head coach and 6-4 overall.

Though USC’s players actively campaigned for Helton to be hired, Matthews is one of a few alumni who have publicly voiced their skepticism about the hire specific to how it was handled and other candidates available.

Matthews is in Hawai’i thanks to his sixth career Pro Bowl selection.