It’s been roughly a year-and-a-half since Chip Kelly left Eugene and took a job with the Philadelphia Eagles. Since then, the Eagles made the playoffs, the Ducks failed to play in a BCS bowl game for the first time in 5 years, and Mark Helfrich now sits in the relatively warm seat left in the wake of an undervalued coach and the unrealistic expectations he’s responsible for.
At Monday’s Big-10 media day, Urban Meyer took the podium and sang the praises of his team’s potential, Ohio State University, and Chip Kelly … the greatest coach that ever lived. Okay, maybe he didn’t go that far, but he did say – following his 3-day stint with the Eagles head coach – that he learned more in 3 days with Chip Kelly than he had in his entire soon-to-be hall of fame career. Hyperbole? Probably, but while complimentary of the coach who genuinely put Oregon on the map, such a comment should put a bit of fear in the heart of Oregon’s most diehard fans, and trepidation for the coach who’s walking in his footsteps.
Two losses isn’t tragic, and realistically speaking, Oregon isn’t nor has been good enough to poo-poo 11 wins and a bowl win over a historically great program like Texas. But fans of Chip Kelly and skeptics of his protégé Mark Helfrich will tell you it isn’t the first year removed from an iconic coach that tells the tale, but rather the subsequent years with more of his own players, less of Chip’s, and a program dependent upon the leadership of a coach looking for respect.
I’m not here to bash Mark Helfrich. He certainly – in spite of a couple hiccups – kept the sports car that’s been the Oregon football program in recent years on the track and maneuvered it safely through a couple potential pitfalls named Colt Lyerla, DeAnthony Thomas, and a rumored attitude problem from some of Chip’s veteran players said to have put their own interests and agendas ahead of the team’s. But more so to question the probability of replacing a coach of Chip’s stature and maintaining the level of expectation built by a once-in-a-generation coach.
And that’s what’s potentially coming to light: That Chip Kelly was that good, and if so, how likely is it that his successor would be that good as well?
It has happened. After all, Chip himself followed up a pretty good coach in Mike Bellotti, Dennis Erickson won a national championship after Jimmie Johnson at Miami, and recently Jimbo Fisher who won a national title following legendary coach Bobby Bowden at Florida State. But for every Kelly, Erickson, and Fisher, there’s been a multitude of Lambrights (See Don James at Washington), Cokers (Miami post-Butch Davis), and most recently Kiffins, who’ve had immediate success in the wake of a highly successful coach, but fizzled as the momentum of their predecessor dwindled and the program became dependent on the skills of the successor.
Kiffin – in spite of sanctions – had players at USC, but couldn’t make it work. Lambright had history built over Don James’ 18 year career at Washington, but couldn’t make it work. And Coker had the momentum of a national title which he would parlay into one of his own the following year, but couldn’t sustain the success and subsequently couldn’t make it work. It’s not easy to follow a highly successful coach, and that’s what the University of Oregon and its fans are asking Mark Helfrich to do.
The Ducks have a heck of a program, that can’t be denied. Their facilities are first class, their level of cache is off the charts, and their current profile provides them no boundaries in regards to recruiting the country’s best high school talent. But nothing’s guaranteed in the world of college football, and success has a shelf-life dependent on consistent winning. Oregon did that with Chip Kelly, but was his acumen the coals beneath a pretty good program, or is the program the catalyst beneath the wings of a pretty good coach? I think the verdict’s still out, but according to Urban Meyer, Oregon’s ride might be over.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
