Why the Oregon Ducks Should Give Mark Helfrich Another Season

Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens will meet with football coach Mark Helfrich later this week. Here’s why the Ducks should give Helfrich another year.

Coaches across the country have been on the hot seat recently. Texas recently replaced Charlie Strong with Tom Herman. Brian Kelly’s time in South Bend has looked more and more precarious as Notre Dame losses have piled up. The coaching carousel is an inevitability in college football. Jumping on for the ride, however, is a decision that should never be taken lightly. Oregon should pay heed when evaluating the future of head coach Mark Helfrich.

What kind of program does Oregon want to be? The Ducks in recent years have aspired to the top tier of college football. They have contended regularly for conference championships and earned several opportunities to play for the national championship.

One of its quarterbacks, Marcus Mariota, won the Heisman Trophy. Another, Joey Harrington, came close in the final voting. A third, Dennis Dixon, was in the running before sustaining a season-ending injury in 2007.

By any measure, Oregon is no longer merely a marketing gimmick replete with the latest in football fashion. Through their successes on the field, the Ducks have become a national brand representative of the sport’s nouveau riche of the twenty-first century.

But after losing in Corvallis to state rival Oregon State two days after Thanksgiving and concluding the worst season in a quarter-century in Eugene, Oregon football is suffering through a crisis of confidence. A forgettable 2016 season ending in a 4-8 finish has increased the roar to fire Helfrich. Since the season ended, athletic director Rob Mullens has been silent on whether the school intends to retain its coach.

As the coaching staff prepares to travel for offseason recruiting, Helfrich has been left in limbo to await the final verdict on his fate. Indecision could impact whether Oregon manages to hold onto key recruits in what figures to be a top-25 class in 2017. It is important to put into perspective just how far Oregon has come both competitively and economically. Is a contract buyout of $11.6 million really a viable option for moving forward? The schools’ final decision could also determine just what kind of head coach the school will manage to land in the future.

Calls to terminate Helfrich are indicative of a newfound sense of entitlement among Oregon fans that is at odds with the program’s long history.

If Mullens and the Ducks decide to pull the trigger on Helfrich’s tenure with the university, it would set a deleterious precedent moving forward. A single season of failure has never previously resulted in the termination of a coach or his staff. Over the decades, Oregon has been far more likely to finish at or near .500 in the standings than in the upper echelon of the national discussion. The athletic department has operated with an understanding of the unique challenges faced by coaches in Eugene, realizing that down years are inevitable in a state which produces little FBS-level talent locally. Calls to terminate Helfrich are indicative of a newfound sense of entitlement among Oregon fans that is at odds with the program’s long history.

Eugene coaching legends Len Casanova and Rich Brooks began their tenures as head coach with multiple losing seasons in a row. Casanova won just eight games in his first three seasons at the helm; after being given ample time to build up the program, he led his charges to the school’s first Rose Bowl appearance in 38 years. Brooks won five games in his first two seasons, but Had the university been so quick to pull the plug on a coaching staff after one losing season, Oregon might never find another coach for its program.

Dick Enright (6-16 over the 1972 and 1973 seasons) was given an opportunity to prove he could do the job. Don Read (9-24 in three seasons between 1974 and 1976) was given multiple chances to steer the Ducks on a course toward respectability. When both were eventually fired, it came after receiving second chances. It is a courtesy that has been extended to every head coach ever employed by the university, a streak in danger of being broken with the calls for Helfrich’s head.

When Mike Bellotti went 5-6 during the 2004 season, he was given the opportunity to correct course. The following season, a shift toward a spread offense helped limit Oregon’s sack totals and launched the Ducks on its meteoric rise to the successes of the past decade. The football team finished 10-2 in 2005, and the winning ways had continued until the present campaign shattered a streak of 12 straight bowl appearances.

Jan 12, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Mike Bellotti (left) and Chip Kelly (right) are interviewed prior to the 2015 CFP National Championship Game at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

There are certainly some unsettling trends that must be addressed within the program. Oregon’s defense has regressed into one of the worst in the nation. This in part can be attributed to the retirement of longtime defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti following the 2013 season. Two seasons under Don Pellum yielded diminishing returns. And a 2016 campaign under new defensive coordinator Brady Hoke which saw the Ducks fall to the bottom of the FBS rankings.

Just as it would be unwise to come to a snap judgment about Helfrich, it would also be premature to let Hoke go after just one season. Even when Hoke saw his Wolverines teams struggle as Michigan head coach, they continued to field highly-rated defenses. To can the coordinator before he can fully install his scheme would set the Ducks back further on defense.