At Oregon, Helfrich Isn’t Interested In Stamps

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Wednesday, November 05, 2014

Jeffrey Martin, GoLocalPDX Contributor

Mark Helfrich replaced Chip Kelly, the iconic and certainly one-of-a-kind Oregon coach, almost two years ago, yet there’s probably never a day that passes during which he’s not reminded in one way or another.

Kyle Whittingham can relate.

The Ducks face Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday, a battle of Top 25 teams. Whittingham, the Utes coach, succeeded Urban Meyer, who moved on to Florida and claimed a couple of national championships during his time in Gainesville.

“It’s not easy (following Meyer),” Whittingham said Tuesday during the Pac-12 coaches’ teleconference call. “It wasn’t broken - if it’s not broken, don’t fix it, so we held on to a lot of what we were doing with Urban as far as day-to-day operations and how we ran the program. We’ve evolved since then, obviously… But when we first took over, we had a pretty good thing going… 

“We had to reload in a lot of respects, but no, we didn’t try to put our own stamp on it right away because it was working.”

Which is all Helfrich has done, or tried to do, and even that hasn’t been enough for some. He’s 19-3 overall, 12-3 in conference play, and if you listen closely, some gripes can still be heard. 

One last time, all together - he’s not Kelly. He never will be. 

But you know what? That’s fine. 

Here’s what I wrote on Aug. 27, in a piece titled, “Is Helfrich the Right Fit?”: 

Usually, it’s best to stick with what is tried and true, especially when it’s a new experience for the person in charge. Which is precisely what Helfrich did in Year One, churning out wins at the usual high pace - remember, Kelly lost seven games overall and four conference games in four seasons - but without placing his own personal, identifiable stamp on the final product.

There’s time for that.

If he’s given the time, of course, which he should provided he continues to win. 

Either way, just know he’s not a placeholder. He’s his own man, and a smart one at that - only a fool would disrupt the massive machine at work in Eugene.

On Tuesday, Helfrich was asked if he was interested in applying his own stamp on the Ducks.

“Our players believe 100 percent in what we’re doing,” he said. “It’s more important they’re stamping than I am.”

Pressed further on the topic, Helfrich reluctantly continued. 

“I think our guys believe in what we’re doing,” he said. “There’s a tremendous amount of continuity throughout our program. Our guys know we’re up against another high-quality program with a bunch of fast, physical guys in every phase that is extremely well-coached. I think we’re focused on preparing for that.”

He certainly sounds the part, doesn’t he?

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