Mark Helfrich may owe Chip Kelly for his job, but he also has him to thank for expectations even the current Philadelphia Eagles Head Coach would have a hard time meeting.
There’s no mention of Charles “Chip” Kelly in the New English Bible. Really, I just looked. In spite of countless stories of miracles performed by the ex-Oregon coach, he’s never walked on water, awakened the dead, and thankfully few men have been created in the image of the (sorry coach) portly middle-aged man from New Hampshire. Yet, based on conversations regarding his 4-year tenure in Eugene, you’d think he built a better Ark, split the Red Sea in thirds, and cloned the Earth for kicks on the 7th day in which God rested.
Chip Kelly was a hell of a coach at Oregon and has the record to prove it, but he wasn’t perfect and the sooner Oregon and its fans come to that conclusion, the easier they’ll breathe, and the easier first year coach Mark Helfrich will have doing a job the “Almighty” himself would find thankless at times.
Oregon is not an easy place to win. Yes, I know they have Phil Knight’s money, but what they don’t have is a rich tradition of winning, a 100,000-seat stadium, and a fertile area to recruit from in and around the city of Eugene. While amongst the elite of the college game in recent years, Oregon isn’t your traditional power and has to do it better than most annually involved in the “national title game.” They can’t miss on recruits, can’t afford an off-game, and will rarely out-talent the elite schools in college football. But Chip Kelly put them on that stage, and now Duck Fan expects Helfrich to keep them there.
His 10-2 record is a failure. Yep, fans are beside themselves and local pundits have declared Helfrich’s maiden voyage a collapse, an underachievement, and a result worthy of questions surrounding his status as the head man in Eugene.
And maybe they’re right?
Oregon lost 2 games during the 2013 regular season, the same amount they lost in 2009 during Chip’s first season as coach. But it wasn’t that they lost; it’s how they did it that has Oregon faithful wondering whether the Oregon native’s the right man for the job.
Stanford embarrassed Oregon. They essentially told them what they were going to do, and did it…over and over again. In 60 minutes of football, the Cardinal dismantled all that Oregon had built during the first 8 games of the season and ended any realistic hopes of a title in 2013. Two weeks later, they no-showed at Arizona and in the process ended their chance for a Pac-12 Championship, and all but ended the longest streak of BCS bowl games in college football today. All of which left a sour taste in the fan base’s mouth, and all of which cracked an armor surrounding the new coach since he starting winning back in September. Now, disciplinary problems and a few unsavory comments by a handful of players have created an image of a loose ship, and a captain potentially asleep at the wheel.
But maybe they’re wrong as well?
Chip Kelly lost games. I know revisionist history suggests something different, but he only successfully navigated one regular season undefeated, and lost 2 in a single season twice during his 4 seasons at Oregon. Also, if you recall, his first season included a post-game punch, a theft, and a domestic altercation, all of which resulted in subsequent suspensions for the players involved. He wasn’t perfect, and it took some on-the-job training to solidify him as the type of coach a true “winner” needs, and the type of coach other schools and franchises covet.
Couldn’t Mark Helfrich be in the midst of that same on-the-job training, and couldn’t he also be that type of coach if given the time to do so? I don’t know, but that’s my point; neither does anyone else.
It would behoove Coach Helfrich to win the Alamo Bowl versus a Texas team most would deem mediocre. It would mean 11 wins, mean a top-10 ranking, and mean, in spite of a questionably successful year in the eyes of Oregon fanatics, a pretty good start to what Mr. Helfrich hopes is a pretty darn good career as the Head Coach at the University Of Oregon. But he still won’t be Chip Kelly, won’t be “the man” in the eyes of many, and won’t be the guy who finished what Charles started nearly 5 years ago.
Then again, I’m not sure even the Head Coach of the Philadelphia Eagles could do that.
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