USC QB coach Clay Helton had a chance to work with Matt Barkley daily since joining the program in 2010.

In fact, his success with Barkley could be the reason why the Trojans hired Helton as offensive coordinator in February.

Helton called "The SPortsbash" on Wedensday to talk with Mike Gill about his experiences with Barkley.

"He's a football junkie. There hasn't been a guy I've been around that works harder than Matt has," Helton said.

Barkley joins an Eagles team with an unknown at head coach though and the football world is anxiously waiting to see how Chip Kelly will fare in the NFL.

Helton has spent the last three seasons in the Pac-12 conference with the Trojans and knows how Kelly can handle any type of player and relate that to his up-tempo offense.

"Chip has been able to manipulate his system based on the personnel coming in. They'll adapt, look at what he was able to do with (running back) De'Anthony Thomas," said Helton.

The Eagles have three (realistic) out of five quarterbacks on their roster that look to win the starting job coming September and both Kelly and GM Howie Roseman have maintained an open competition at training camp.

Helton joined the USC staff in February of 2010 after spending 10 seasons as an assistant at Memphis.

Clay Helton on "The Sportsbash:"

---Pete Giordano

 

 

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