Helton praises special teams

USC football took to Cromwell Field for a short practice on Wednesday, as the Trojans continue to enjoy their bye week and prepare for their matchup against Cal next Thursday.

Super Special Teams

Head coach Clay Helton made a point to praise special teams coach John Baxter, whose kick and punt coverage units didn’t allow a single return yard at Arizona last week.

“There were zero return yards on 12 kicks. That means your kickers are doing a heck of a job,” Helton said. “He’s a special guy.”

Helton also credited Baxter for the progress redshirt junior kicker Matt Boermeester and redshirt sophomore punter Chris Tilbey have made this season, and Helton recalled the phone conversation he had with Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh last offseason to recruit Baxter back to Troy.

“I knew how valuable he was,” Helton said of Baxter at Michigan. “It was like stealing a good man away from another guy who you respect.”

Baxter, in return, said it was the environment while working at USC that drew him back to his old stomping grounds (he previously spent four seasons from 2010-13 with the Trojans).

“This is an incredible working environment, which is why I’m here,” he said. “Clay makes the job great.”

Baxter added that Helton’s management of his coaching staff shows what makes him a good boss.

“They let you do what you want to do, and they trust you to do it,” Baxter said. “But in exchange for that flexibility, you better return some production.”

Activating Adoree’

Helton also discussed the need to up junior cornerback Adoree’ Jackson’s involvement on offense, especially since opponents are now beginning to avoid the blazing return man on kickoffs and punts, capping his scoring potential.

“I was teasing him the other day,” Helton laughed. “I said, ‘If they won’t kick it to you, we’ll need to hand it to you or throw it to you or something.’”

Nevertheless, Helton said not to expect to see too much of Jackson on offense come next Thursday, as the cornerback will likely be very occupied with his defensive duties.

“[Cal has] one of the top quarterbacks not only in our conference but in the country … so you have to be really careful about how much you use him, if at all,” Helton said.

Bear Hunt

The Trojans have begun scouting Golden Bears quarterback Davis Webb, and junior safety Chris Hawkins was concerned about the senior transfer’s big-play ability.

“He has pinpoint accuracy,” Hawkins said. “He’s No. 1 in the country in almost every QB [metric] there is.”

Helton agreed, comparing Webb to previous Cal signal caller Jared Goff, who was taken No. 1 overall by the Los Angeles Rams in the 2016 NFL Draft.

“He has Jared’s arm strength and he can make any throw on the field,” Helton said. “What I’ve been impressed with is how quickly he gets the ball out.”

Webb has run and thrown for a total of 22 touchdowns so far this fall, and the former Texas Tech Red Raider topped 300 passing yards in every game except Cal’s most recent contest: an overtime loss at Oregon State last week, when Webb departed with a hand injury.

“He’s going to try to shred us,” Hawkins said. “So we have to be on all ten toes every play.”