Feature image from Michael Reaves

Who Is He?

Tyson Helton is the current head coach at a familiar program - the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. He’s also the younger brother of current Georgia Southern (and former USC) head coach Clay Helton, the most anonymously stable head coach in college football.

At 45 years old, Tyson’s coaching resume overlaps with our dearly departed Jeff Brohm. Helton was Brohm’s offensive coordinator and QB coach during the 2014 and 2015 seasons, when QB Brandon Doughty put up absurd passing numbers - 4,830 and 5,055 yards in each season, with 49 and 48 touchdowns respectively (not typos). Just in case you wanted a refresher at the absurd offenses WKU offenses that had us salivating in 2016.

Why didn’t he come with Brohm to Purdue after the 2016 season? I would complain that Jeff hired his own family to those same positions at Purdue - except Tyson went to work for Clay at USC in 2016, as QB coach and Passing Game Coordinator for the Sam Darnold era in LA.

(College football nepotism cannot be escaped.)

That’s not to say Tyson did a poor job! That was the most exciting USC looked during Clay’s entire tenure, and after a stopgap year at Tennessee (the less said about Jeremy Pruit, the better) Tyson returned to Kentucky to become WKU’s head coach.

After Brohm, WKU was helmed by ND offensive coordinator Mike Sanford Jr, son of grizzled college football coach Mike Sanford Sr. (The theme continues.) Immediately following Brohm’s 12- and 11-win seasons, Sanford took WKU to 6 wins in 2017, 3 wins in 2018, lifeless recruiting, and well on the way to Conference USA obscurity. (It probably didn’t help that Brohm raided WKU’s talent on Purdue’s behalf.)

In walks Helton, and WKU ends up with a positive trajectory once again. 9-4 in 2019, 9-5 in 2021, 8-5 in 2022 with four bowl games in his four years (despite going 5-7 in the cursed 2020 season). Like Brohm with Purdue in 2016, Helton took WKU’s wayward pieces in 2018 and turned them into an instant offensive machine in 2019 through a balanced attack between QB Ty Storey and RB Gaej Walker.

After the 2020 debacle, Helton decided to do something extremely drastic and wild and video game inspired. He scoured statistical databases, found the most insane FCS passing offense on the list, and after the one-time transfer and strange COVID rules were implemented Helton decided to import the entire operation to WKU. That’s right - he discovered Houston Baptist’s offense led by QB Bailey Zappe (3,811 yards and 35 TDs in 2019), WR Jerreth Sterns (833 yards, 9 TDs), and offensive coordinator Zach Kittley…and plucked all three for the 2021 WKU season.

And it worked! The offense was off the charts! Zappe threw for 5,967 yards and 62 touchdowns. Sterns posted an equally absurd 1,902 and 17 TDs.

None of those numbers are typos. Go read that last paragraph again.

What happened after Zappe (current New England Patriots QB) and Sterns ran out of eligibility, and Kittley left for Texas Tech’s OC position? The offense went back to “normal” numbers (QB Austin Reed only threw for 4,249 yards), but the defense made a significant improvement, they continued to score buckets of points and put up a respectable 8-5 record.

Why would he be successful at Purdue?

Helton works at WKU. The same WKU that gave us a certain Cardinal-clad football coach in 2016, and a certain basketball coach with a perfect head of hair in 1980.

Both of those hires worked out, so why not go to the same well a third time?

QB wizard, risk-taker, schematically dedicated to the passing game, has shown he can improve a defense and completely reinvent his approach when challenged. And his brother helmed one of the sport’s largest machines, so running Purdue in the Big Ten shouldn’t phase him. While this would be a “discount” hire for Purdue, it would harken back to our Tiller (and, now, Brohm) roots in the purest way possible.

Why could he flop at Purdue?

Adjusting at the Conference USA level is so much different than the Big Ten, let alone with the monumental changes in college football we’re about to live through over the next decade. And unless Helton oozes charisma and aces his interviews with Bobinski, this version of the Purdue Athletic Department will be looking for a bigger swing - so, if Helton ends up being the choice, Purdue would have certainly swung and missed on a few high-profile candidates. That isn’t a great setup for success.

Would he come to Purdue?

Definitely - the paycheck, the spotlight, and the talent is just too much to pass up when jumping from CUSA to the B10. He’s also shown to follow Brohm’s footsteps well, so even from his perspective as a proof-of-concept he knows that Purdue embraces his eyepopping passing game with relish.

It would be interesting to see what types of coordinators he (and Bobinski) would be able to recruit, seeing as Helton could be a lower-priced HC option for Purdue. Even if this is the “worst” option on Purdue’s realistic board, he would embrace Purdue’s history of successful passing offenses better than almost anyone on the list.