USC surprised many college football fans when it announced that Clay Helton would remain as head coach, but big changes are being made at Southern Cal.

Trojans reporters were busy Tuesday reporting the departures of USC assistants Tee Martin, Kenechi Udeze and Ronnie Bradford. For many prospects, the relationship with the coaching staff is the biggest deciding factor in where they commit.

One would expect that with so many changes to USC’s staff in November, less than a month before the Early Period (Dec. 19-21), some Southern Cal commits will pledge elsewhere. For Florida, there is particular interest in 4-star CB Chris Steele.

While no longer a Trojans pledge, USC is still thought to be a major player for Steele, who is arguably Florida’s top uncommitted target for 2019. The Bellflower, Calif. cornerback was particularly shocked to see Bradford go from visiting his home Monday night to being fired Tuesday.

Steele is rated the No. 6 cornerback, No. 6 California product and No. 40 recruit overall nationally in the 2019 class on the 247Sports Composite. He is set to commit on Jan. 5.