{"id":16159,"date":"2016-11-30T10:25:29","date_gmt":"2016-11-30T10:25:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=16159"},"modified":"2016-11-30T10:26:29","modified_gmt":"2016-11-30T10:26:29","slug":"mark-helfrichs-firing-sends-chilling-message-coaching-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/sports\/mark-helfrichs-firing-sends-chilling-message-coaching-trade.html","title":{"rendered":"Mark Helfrich’s firing sends chilling message to coaching trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oregon\u2019s loss to rival Oregon State in this year\u2019s Civil War capped a fitting end to the program\u2019s worst season in a generation, which has cast a spotlight on Mark Helfrich\u2019s job security just two years after he led the Ducks to the doorstep of a national championship.<\/span><\/p>\n

Helfrich met Oregon athletics director Rob Mullens to discuss his future Tuesday night and left the meeting without a job. Internal discussions about the football program began before Saturday\u2019s loss, according to USA TODAY Sports. Since Saturday, Helfrich had been in coaching purgatory, with two feet straddling the line between retention and dismissal.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is something far bigger than just Helfrich at play at Oregon, which in the past two decades has grown into one of college football\u2019s elite programs. First as the offensive coordinator and then as head coach, Helfrich deserves recognition as a key figure behind the Ducks\u2019 surge.<\/span>
\nFiring Helfrich is a repudiation of perhaps the defining characteristic of Oregon\u2019s run: the 40-season stretch of continuity that led from Rich Brooks to Mike Bellotti, from Bellotti to Chip Kelly and from Kelly to Helfrich.<\/span><\/p>\n

And the school did it by repudiating his performance in its official announcement, closing the news release with a bizarre and completely unnecessary recounting of events that took shots at Oregon relying on graduate transfers in the post-Mariota era, revisiting a blown lead in the 2015 Alamo Bowl loss, specifically pointing out Helfrich’s decisions to go for two points five times at Nebraska this season and using the term “one-sided” to describe three of the Ducks’ losses this season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those passages were later removed by the author, who apologized on Twitter for including them<\/span><\/p>\n

Helfrich’s firing also forces Oregon to embrace a pool of coaching candidates lacking in star power. There\u2019s no reason to think Kelly would embrace a return to Oregon after just one season with the San Francisco 49ers. The program\u2019s options are to entice a sitting Power Five coach \u2014 perhaps a Dan Mullen from Mississippi State or Jim McElwain from Florida \u2014 or dip into the Group of Five, whether Western Michigan\u2019s P.J. Fleck or Boise State\u2019s Bryan Harsin.<\/span><\/p>\n

The case for or against Helfrich had already been litigated before Tuesday. Supporters point to a young team, a new defensive scheme, an unproven quarterback, a run of injuries and a one-year plummet in production. Detractors highlight the Ducks\u2019 swoon since Marcus Mariota\u2019s departure following the 2014 season. There is rationale for either argument.<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s even some precedent: Auburn fired Gene Chizik just two seasons after he won the national title, following a precipitous drop from the top of the SEC to the bottom of the West Division. The following season, the Tigers reached the national championship game under his successor, Gus Malzahn.<\/span><\/p>\n

But this is about more than just Helfrich, and the reach of Tuesday\u2019s decision extends far beyond Oregon.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a college coach, take note: If Helfrich can be fired after one losing season, two seasons after the finest year in program history, after coaching the program\u2019s only Heisman winner, with an eight-figure buyout \u2014 so can anyone else.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the pathetic part of this business, without question,\u201d Washington coach Chris Petersen said Monday. \u201cIt is the nature of the business, that\u2019s what it is.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Jeez, this Oregon press release just throws Helfrich under the bus over the last 4 paragraphs. Don’t let the door .. https:\/\/t.co\/Dyb9BvKa3X<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/sIzi0d9z9j<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) November 30, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n