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Mark Helfrich


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I'm quite a bit puzzled that I've yet to hear his name on the NFL's radar. Considering the success that Chip Kelly's offense has had on the NFL level, to the point that all three other NFC East teams tried to hire Oregon's defensive coordinator, why am I not hearing Helfrich's name? He's been the Ducks OC since 2009 and the program has obviously not missed a beat since he took over for Kelly. This is the kind of out of the box hire that would really get me fired up. The Jets need an innovator, a creative mind. They do not need another conservative "a punt is a good possession" head coach. I've seen a lot of people say "If not Marrone, then who?". Well, here's your answer.

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I would think Gary Patterson would be a better option.  Here is a guy who changed up his whole offensive system to win.  Not many coaches are will to do this and admit they need to change.

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/big12/post/_/id/94341/how-tcu-built-its-breakthrough-in-9-months

 

How TCU built its breakthrough in 9 months

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Gary Patterson got grief for it from coaching buddies all season long. They are glad that, after 31 years in the business, the guy finally wanted to have a little fun on offense.

"People are shocked Gary Patterson can have an offensive team," he joked. "'Have you lost your mind? What are you doing?' I like to win. It’s a very simple situation."

His not-so-simple New Year’s resolution to develop a thrilling spread offense set TCU on course for a transformative journey that will end with a New Year’s Eve bowl.
 

Mapping the path to a Big 12 championship trophy, a No. 6 ranking and spot in the Chik-fil-A Peach Bowl against Ole Miss required foresight and fortune. The process began on Dec. 1, 2013, the first day of the offseason for a 4-8 team.

Patterson had exactly nine months to rethink what winning the Big 12 required. After 15 years in Fort Worth -- and two tough ones in the Big 12 -- he had to reimagine TCU football.

He had realized this in November. After a last-second loss to Kansas State guaranteed TCU would not go bowling, Patterson warned his staff that change was imminent.

"But it wasn’t just 'let’s go get an offense,'" Patterson said. "I’m big on chemistry. It was about guys that would fit the staff, guys that could recruit the Metroplex and the state of Texas and were respected."

His search ended up being easy. By Dec. 3, word of Doug Meacham leaving Houston for TCU had already leaked. Before that addition became official on Dec. 12, Patterson met with AD Chris Del Conte and laid out his plan.

"I was probably the most proud of that, because football coaches are creatures of habit," Del Conte said. "He said he had to evolve and change how we go about it. I was like, 'Wow. OK.'"

Meacham told Patterson the man he trusted most to coach quarterbacks was Sonny Cumbie. Until this season their paths had crossed only on the recruiting trail. West Virginia’s Dana Holgorsen deserves some credit for the pairing -- he’s the one who first introduced Meacham to Cumbie.

By Dec. 18, Patterson had both on board. By April 5, he was nervous. The Air Raid, while incredibly simple in terms of its playbook, isn’t easily taught in less than a hundred days. TCU’s vanilla spring game hinted at the difficulty.

"We weren’t very good on offense at the end of spring," Patterson says bluntly.

Too many balls on the turf, too many interceptions, too many incorrect routes. Teaching the system is largely a mental challenge that requires constant repetition. Meacham and Cumbie could only teach Trevone Boykin so much in 15 practices. Plus, it didn’t help that TCU's scholarship backs were all banged up.

"Some days, you’d just say, "We’re bad,'" Patterson recalled. "Oh yeah, there was a lot of concern. But you went down a path. This is the path."

Quarterback Matt Joeckel understood the path. Two weeks after TCU’s spring game, the Texas A&M transfer picked the Horned Frogs. His arrival was supposed to spell trouble for Boykin, maybe even prompt a move to receiver. Instead, the two bonded and competed.
 

Linebacker Marcus Mallet says he saw this team’s rebound coming by June. The buy-in was intense and pervasive. Joeckel was an unsung hero, teaching his new teammates the offensive system in workouts and 7-on-7 at a time when coaches were required to be hands-off.

By August, not even the departure of Devonte Fields could shake TCU players’ faith. Three of their most talented and troubled peers -- Fields, Brandon Carter and LaDarius Brown -- were dismissed during the offseason. Their absence never proved to be an issue.

But the quarterback conundrum remained. TCU’s eventual Heisman Trophy candidate separated himself in scrimmages with his accuracy. Boykin had been a headache to defend in practices for years. He had yet to prove enough on Saturdays. Battling with Joeckel upped his game to another level.

"That’s one of the reasons why Boykin is where he is now," receiver David Porter said. "He had pressure on him, and he had to be on his p's and q's."

By the second scrimmage, Patterson knew. TCU’s offense started shredding his defense in the red zone. The sloppy project was turning into a slick, speedy operation just in time.

"Two weeks into fall camp, oh my god, they got it," Del Conte said. "They looked really good."

How good? Just ask Jason Verrett. TCU’s Big 12 co-Defensive Player of the Year and first-round pick a year ago watched this season’s Kansas State game in awe from the sideline. He didn’t expect this.

"If we had this offense last year, I don’t think a team would’ve beaten us," Verrett said. "That’s just the truth."

Chucky Hunter warned him, though. Verrett didn’t believe the Frogs' defensive tackle when he called during two-a-days in August.

"All he kept saying was, 'Bro, our offense is real as s---.'"

Hunter called Verrett again the week of the Oklahoma game and predicted a Big 12 title. Patterson wasn’t thinking nearly that big. Heck, he just wanted to win six. An eight- or nine-win season to set up a 2015 breakthrough? Even better.

On Wednesday in Atlanta, TCU plays for its 12th win. On Jan. 1, another offseason begins in Fort Worth. This one should be a bit easier.

"We’re built for success now," Del Conte said. "It’s fantastic. It’s no flash in the pan. We’re in this for the long haul."

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Ducks fan here. Sorry guys. Helfrich is a Coos Bay boy from Oregon. He has said UO is his dream job. He's not like Kelly who used the UO job as a spring board. Helfrich is a lifer. Scott Frost on the other hand. He's known to want a HC position.

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What success have they had???? 1 playoff birth and zero playoff wins. And I know they won their division but they had 10 wins, probably the worst division in football in 2013.

Everyone keeps saying they have taken the league by storm. I don't see it.

They have an elite offense and have done so using QBs that are mediocre at best, and Mark Sanchez at worst.

We certainly have some high standards around here. How many ten win seasons have the Jets had in the last decade? How about we learn to walk first before we demand they run to the Super Bowl.

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playoff wins.... that's how team/ coaches/ offenses s are judged... Kelly is a non-issue for me until he gets his first playoff win. I have never seen a coach so admired without winning when it counts in my 30 plus years of watching NFL football.

 

don't believe the hype

Marvin Lewis? 

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playoff wins.... that's how team/ coaches/ offenses s are judged... Kelly is a non-issue for me until he gets his first playoff win. I have never seen a coach so admired without winning when it counts in my 30 plus years of watching NFL football.

don't believe the hype

Give him time. It's hardly fair to condemn him for instantly taking a team that picked 4th in the draft to division champion, then missed the playoffs while starting his backup QB for half the season, while still going 10-6. Chip Kelly is as good at coaching as I am at making long run-on sentences.

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Larry Coker was a really good coach at Miami for a few years with Butch Davis' players, too. This happens a lot in college sports.

If Oregon continues on its current path, I'm sure he will get looks.

The major difference would be that Larry Coker inherited an NFL team.

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Helfrich is one guy that I really wanted.  I think I made a thread about him awhile ago.  

 

As to Kelly, his system makes even mediocre QBs look good, and that's important nowadays.  I think from our experience with Sanchez, he's below mediocre, yet showed himself to be passable this year.  His overall rating this year came out to 88.4.  And his QBR of 58.2 was within a 5 point radius of:  Luck, Wilson, Tannehil, Foles, and better than Newton, Kapernick, Dalton, Stafford.  Knowing these players, there isn't one guy I'd pick Mark Sanchez over from that group.  Yet, the stats were similar, and that's why the system works.  It helps you improve the biggest position on the field and take mediocre guys and turn them good.  

 

Foles doesn't even fit the system all that well, because the system is based on running.  They are a team that should look into RGIII if he becomes available.   I think everyone agrees that it's a QB league, so any system that can elevate the game of the QB is excellent IMO.  I would take Kelly or Helfrich in a heartbeat. 

 

They have their downfall on defense, but who do they really even have on defense?  That defense was devoid of talent when he took over, and he hasn't done much with it, yet still maintained a good record.  

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