A Potential Coach Search at Oregon Would be Fascinating

RIP to the Era of Oregon. Just less than a decade after the Ducks rose to prominence behind new coach Chip Kelly and its re-branded status as Nike U, the Oregon dynasty (at least this version of it) seems to be dead.

The Ducks lost their third game in a row for the first time since 2007, when they rose to No. 2 in the national polls before losing star quarterback Dennis Dixon. And they did it in the worst way possible, getting blown out by Washington State the week after losing to Colorado. Losing to Stanford or Washington? Fine. But losing to Colorado and Washington State—the latter by 18 points—is almost impossible to wrap your head around for this once-dominant program. More bad news? Oregon takes on rival Washington this week and looks to be on the verge of a blowout loss. Vegas currently has the Huskies as an eight-point favorite.

There's not a whole lot to be optimistic about for the rest of the season, either. The Ducks have struggled with their quarterback recruiting so much that they have relied on graduate transfers the past two years. The defense, once vastly underrated, was bad last year and has been even worse this year under new defensive coordinator Brady Hoke. All told, Oregon could be lucky to get to a bowl game this season, and with a future that has looked bleaker by the week since former Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota left, coach Mark Helfrich's seat is getting very hot.

As a fun little mental exercise (for us), let's say Helfrich is fired. Even in a year that could include coaching searches for both LSU and Texas, Oregon could have by far the most interesting coaching search in the country. Who on earth would the Ducks hire?

Clearly, Oregon would be an attractive job, given that Nike has shown no signs of slowing its commitment to the football program. Oregon football has unlimited resources—perhaps more than any other program in the country. Nike is synonymous with Oregon, and that's a good thing for the program's success.

But Oregon football is also now synonymous with Chip Kelly's offensive system, and it's still a mystery whether the Ducks would hire someone outside that realm. Would they go with a traditional coach? Would they go with an untraditional coach with a more traditional system? Or would they stick with the Chip Kelly tree? It's really impossible to say.

Peruse Ducks message boards and Twitter, and you'll come up with names like:

• Houston coach Tom Herman, who apparently everyone is firing their coaches for
• Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, if the Seahawks disappoint this year
• Utah coach Kyle Wittingham
• Chip Kelly
• Eastern Washington coach Beau Baldwin
• Alabama offensive coordinator and former USC coach Lane Kiffin
• Former LSU coach Les Miles
• LSU interim coach Ed Orgeron, who took over after Miles was fired

That is a ridiculously vast list of names, from hot coaching prospects to up-and-comers and boring, experienced coaches to exciting, sort-of-experienced coaches.

It's hard to tell what Oregon will do this year, but if the Ducks do fire Helfrich, we're going to have one helluva coach search on our hands, and possibly a rebrand to the Oregon dynasty.