A trying week will test Clay Helton’s philosophy of calm

When Tyson Helton tells the story of his favorite football memory, he begins with a sheepish explanation. It was an embarrassing moment: the time he blew a game as Houston’s starting quarterback.

He’d marched down the field against Pittsburgh for what he thought was a game-winning drive, and in the face of a blitz he launched what he thought was the game-winning pass. The ball was intercepted right before the goal line and returned for a touchdown.

It was the walk back to the sideline that he remembers fondly. His father was the head coach. His brother, Clay, was the running backs coach. Neither yelled or screamed. Clay patted him on the behind, reassured him and built him back up. Time to move on, Clay told him.

“I can remember, the demeanor never changed,” Tyson Helton recounted last year. “I can remember how comforting that felt for me.”

Even in the early years of his coaching career, Clay Helton was forming what would become his coaching doctrine. Helton believes that in a profession full of the paranoid, the ornery and the loud, the calmest person in the room is often the right one. At USC, Helton has coached more with optimism than fear.

This week, a particularly important one for the program and for Helton, has tested that philosophy like few times before. At 6-2, with injuries mounting and with little signs of week-to-week improvement, USC has offered little reason for optimism.

Players and coaches have felt embattled. Athletic director Lynn Swann said he was “a little disappointed” by USC’s start to the season — and that was even before a 49-14 whooping by Notre Dame. Offensive coaches this week expressed frustration and defiance. A parent complained about playing time. Fans clamored for sweeping changes or fiery pronouncements.

Helton is unlikely to deliver either. In the middle of the storm, he has remained the same as ever.

Will that be enough to save USC’s season?

“I’ve always thought, maybe it’s the nature of playing the quarterback position, maybe it’s being a quarterback coach by trade, but I think they always look to you for leadership and how your body language is,” Helton said. “They understand that I coach them hard but I also love ‘em, and I believe in ‘em and I always will. I truly believe these kids, even with injuries, can be a great football team and win a Pac-12 championship.”

Calm and stability underpinned Helton’s appeal when Pat Haden hired him near the end of the 2015 season. After the roller coaster ride of Lane Kiffin’s tenure and the scandal of Steve Sarkisian’s, Haden outlined Helton’s traits that swayed his decision: “high character, stability, continuity, consistency, toughness and resiliency to our program.” Few of those had to do with Xs and O’s.

USC’s turnaround from 1-3 to 10-3 last season burnished Helton’s reputation as a wartime consigliere, a coach who thrives when things appear to be falling apart.

After the season, quarterback Sam Darnold credited Helton’s demeanor for the resurrection. Helton didn’t suffocate his players. He trusted that they wanted to win as badly as he did.

“I think it’s awesome,” Darnold said. “There’s different styles, different ways in which coaches coach, and I would just say that I like coach Clay’s style the best just because I think it works, as a player. And then you’ve got coaches that yell and scream and all that kind of stuff. Which personally I don’t think that’s the best way to coach.”

After last week’s loss to Notre Dame wiped out any realistic hopes for a playoff berth, murmurs of impatience with Helton burbled to the surface. Swann has not commented since the game. His public statements, even following USC’s Rose Bowl victory in January, have been cautious, indicating that Helton still must prove himself in Year 2 and likely now into Year 3.

A loss Saturday against Arizona State would put USC’s Pac-12 championship aspirations on life support and cement the impression that USC has regressed from last season.

Many coaches respond to similar situations by ratcheting up the pressure. Helton doesn’t think that works.

“I’m honest with ‘em, but that doesn’t mean I have to berate ‘em,” Helton said. “It doesn’t mean I have to yell all the time at ‘em. I’d rather coach ‘em and communicate with ‘em and get ‘em better. That’s my job. … I believe in communication and education over yelling all the time.”

Not that Helton never yells. He gets on players on occasion. He shouts at officials.

But consider Helton’s approach after the Notre Dame loss.

At USC’s first team meeting this week, “I wouldn’t say he’s going to stay calm after we just got our butts beat,” left tackle Toa Lobendahn said. But Helton began the meeting by “affirming us in our beliefs,” Lobendahn said. He reminded the team of how they turned around last season. He cued up year-old interview clips of players who graduated last season talking about believing in the team when it was 1-3. He tried to refocus on a Pac-12 championship.

Players interviewed this week say they believe Helton’s approach works best. Reminders of a 35-point loss aren’t needed. He treated his players much like he did his brother years ago.

“He tells us let it go,” cornerback Jack Jones said. “We were out there playing, we know what happened. So let it go.”

But USC did not hire Helton to save USC’s season from collapse. USC hired him to win championships.

The next four weeks will begin to determine if Helton’s philosophy meets that standard.

zach.helfand@latimes.com

Follow Zach Helfand on Twitter @zhelfand