Georgia Southern head coach Clay Helton will return to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday for the first time since he was fired by USC. The Trojans are choosing to remind him of his rapid fall from grace with a savage reminder of his greatest college football success.
I don’t think it is a coincidence.
Deontay Burnett will serve as the ‘tunnel captain’ for USC’s home college football game against Georgia Southern. He just so happens to be one of the best players of the Eagles’ head coach tenure in L.A.
Who is Deontay Burnett?
Burnett played for the Trojans in 2015, 2016 and 2017. He caught 152 passes for 1,897 yards and 16 touchdowns in three seasons.
Although the 6-foot-0, 183-pound wide receiver went over 1,000 yards during his final season at USC, the highlight of his career took place on Jan. 2, 2017.
Burnett went for 164 yards and three touchdowns on 13 receptions against Penn State in the Rose Bowl. His third touchdown of the game (and subsequent PAT) tied the score at 49 with under 90 seconds.
The Trojans kicked a game-winning field goal as time expired.
As someone who was in attendance at that game, I can confidently say that the Nittany Lions likely win if not for Deontay Burnett’s big game. He went off.
Now more than eight years later, Burnett is going to lead his alma mater out of the tunnel on Saturday.
If you know, you know.
USC is trolling Clay Helton.
Whether on purpose or not, this tunnel captain selection is absolutely savage. It might be intended as a nod of respect to Helton but it actually serves as the exact opposite.
Clay Helton was the head coach at USC when Burnett torched Penn State at the Rose Bowl. That game was, without question, the pinnacle of his 70-game run with the Trojans.
He was fired in 2021. He was hired by Georgia Southern in 2022.
The Eagles will play the Trojans on Saturday. Helton will be back at Memorial Coliseum for the first time since his ouster.
He returns “at peace” with what happened but he is going to be reminded of the peak as soon as his opponent takes the field. Georgia Southern will run out of the tunnel first. USC, led by Deontay Burnett, will run out of the tunnel not long thereafter. Savage.