By no means do we believe this is a certainty to happen, but we explore the possibility and why we like the idea of Kliff Kingsbury moving to Eugene. We examine positives, negatives, implications and the raw numbers of what could be a great move for both sides.
Kliff is loving life at Texas Tech. He’s clearly beloved by everyone in the Red Raider community, the boosters, and the mother’s of recruits. But, maybe he needs to step out of that comfort zone and find something worth while on the other side of college football.
Doesn’t a job like Oregon seem like a good fit? A flashy destination with the players and assets to make any coach’s mouth water. They are the epicenter of all things Nike and who better to stand and be their greatest spokesman than Kingsbury? His whole aura oozes everything that Nike is, and they should be looking for a coach to fit right into that mold and help them get the most for their money. While it’s not impossible to win a national title and achieve those things at Texas Tech, the road only gets shorter as you move up the ladder.
Catching up
After a 2–5 start to 2016 current Oregon HC Mark Helfrich has to be feeling the heat. Sure they have him an 5-year extension after the 2014 season worth at least $17.5M but schools are becoming increasingly lenient on those buyout numbers. Les Miles was just bought out at LSU to the tune of $9.7M. That $9.7M to be paid out over the next 6 years, 6 months if he does not take another coaching job in that time. ($125,000/month)
A buyout for Mark Helfrich would be similar with his number set at $11.6M. Of course, you have to take out what he had been paid of his yearly salary on that buyout and that would give you the buyout figure. His yearly salary is at $3.8M. So you’d be looking at a number lower than Les Miles (9/12ths or so of the calendar year has elapsed so you would need to talk that off of the buyout)
On the subject Oregon AD had this to say last week, “ Everyone’s disappointed,” Mullens told Joey McMurry. “I’m disappointed, the coaches are disappointed, the student-athletes are disappointed and there’s a lot of frustration. No one thought we’d be 2–4 or expected to be 2–4 halfway through this season so, yes, there’s a lot of frustration and no one wants to win more than I do, more than coach Helfrich, more than the student-athletes.” This was on Ducks Insider, a daily radio show produced by University of Oregon.
Obviously, there is some heat being applied to this situation and Helfrich certainly should be feeling it. The thought of buying out Helfrich most likely has been tabled at this point. We will have to wait and see how it plays out.
They currently sit at 2–5 (0–4) at this point. Clearly that is not the profile and level their used to be playing at. The allure of the Oregon identity has been strong for recruits for a long time but that can only go so far. For that stream to continue they need to produce results once they get those guys on campus. They need an influx of exactly what they claim to be, youth and swagger.
Enter Kliff Kingsbury
Another step up for Coach Kingsbury wouldn’t hurt as he would likley find a shorter route to a National Title with Oregon. They are routinely given a good amount of respect throughout the country and their schedule routinely includes foes inside the Top 25. A program such as Oregon would give Kingsbury respect across the nation that is unattainable at Texas Tech.
You can say whatever you’d like about “dream schools” “perfect situations” and the like but the fact remains that a higher profile program with more assets and better talent surely would be exciting and desirable to any coach. Texas Tech may be Kingsbury’s dream school and I can imagine he feels at home there but a natural career arc would mean he wants to continue to climb throughout the coaching world. Maybe he wants to work his way into the NFL someday (he is an alumni of the NFL) and seemingly a trip through Eugene would be a nice launching pad.
The appeal is obvious when it comes to Kingsbury; good looking, great recruiter, young and on the rise, etc. He is someone that you can build your program around and it is scary to think what he could do with better assets and a great amount of resources.
This could be a better situation than the one that they are currently in, a younger, better version (possibly) of Helfrich, but he would not come at a cheaper price. He is an investment in their future and maybe he can be someone to get the players to play up to their true ability.
Sure, offense really isn’t the issue here as Oregon’s offense is regularly in the upper half of FBS teams and they have absolutely no issue scoring and putting up gawdy numbers. Neither does Kliff Kingsbury, in that category this would not be a dropoff at all and could even get better under Kingsbury’s direction. The problem rests on the other side of the ball.
This could be a great opportunity to pair Kliff Kingsbury with a great defensive mind and start to build a program that can truly be one to be reckoned with across the country. That job could attract some big names and could be a building block for their future success.
Why should he stay at Texas Tech?
Kliff Kingsbury’s current deal, that he signed after the 2014 season, runs through 2020 and includes $22.9M with $17.1M guarenteed according to RedRaiders.com. Clearlly some serious guarenteed cash might is a good reason to stay, the administration showing great faith by offering him that extension after only one bowl win. They are clearly looking for him to be a stable coach, someone they can build around for years to come.
Clearly Kliff has what some believe to be his dream job, but is that the end game? I think it is something every coach works for, to coach at their alma mater and lead the same team out onto the field that he poured his blood, sweat, and tears into. But bigger things are out there for Kliff and Oregon should take notice.
As mentioned before, this is Kliff Kingbury’s “dream job” and who in their right mind would scoff at that? He is under contract at a school that can compete at a high level in a Power 5 conference. They love him down there in Texas and why wouldn’t they? He is everything one would want in this new age of college football: good looking, aggressive in recruiting, winning games (including a bowl game) and raising the prestige of their university on a whole. Surely the university with open their pockets to help him with whatever he needs.
Coach Kliff has had no issues getting his system implemented and getting high grade recruits into the Red Raider program. He was at the helm for the single greatest personal performance, according to total yardage, in NCAA history this weekend. His QB, Patrick Mahomes II, threw 88 times and completed 52 of them (59.1%) for 734 yards and was responsible for 5TD’s. He combined that with 85 yards on the ground and 2TD’s for a total of 819 yards.
Clearly, Kliff Kingsbury’s offense can put up crazy numbers and they did a great job of that last night. All in all, Kliff Kingsbury finds himself in a situation which is great for many, and why should he mess with that?
Why should Oregon let go of Mark Helfrich?
Helfirch certainly is a smart and intelligent coach with plenty of talent and that has shown throughout his first few seasons with the Oregon Ducks. The things is that the results just have not been coming in. Chip Kelly compiled a record of 46–7 during his time at Oregon and some have claimed that Helfrich can’t seem to step out of his shadow. Maybe it is time for them to revamp their program with some fresh faces and see if they can’t push the reset button.
In his time at Oregon Mark Helfrich has compiled a record of 35–13. That mark being somewhat skewed by is 2–5 start to this season. Nonetheless, they are continually getting high grade recruits and to have them sitting at 2–5 is frankly a far cry from what Oregon wants on the field. The hiring of Brady Hoke also seems to be an unmidigated disaster as they have fielded one of the worst defenses in all of FBS football this season. The Ducks defense sits at 116th nationally in total YPG with 485.3. They have done them no favors, giving up 43 PPG and making the offense play catchup all game long.
Have some of the players quit on Helfrich? Is he in need of getting his own players into the program before he can be successful? Whatever the issue there is certainly something going wrong in Eugene and they simply will not accept these sorts of results for long. As with other coaches through the years sometimes their first head coaching job is a learning experience and even thought it ends it is something that gives them great experience and helps them to reach a higher level as a coach. He has certainly taken his lumps and learned some important lessons in his stint so far in Eugene. If Mark Helfrich’s tenure in Eugene is cut after this year he will be a better coach because of it and, and even if he does stay, good things ahead of him.
So….?
So Oregon may decide that they are loooking for stability at this time and it’s not time to shuffle the decks yet again, and maybe that is right. Maybe Kliff Kingsbury has not even done enought impress a progam such as Oregon. He might just not have enough at this point in his coaching career to really lure a huge program like that.
Kliff Kingsbury could be just content with where he is at and does not want to uproot everything he has going in Texas. That would make a lot of sense and he could build them into a team that continually makes bowls and wins several conference games and enters the rankings every once in awhile.
There also could be more out there for him at Oregon, or another school for that matter. All head coaches at that level have an ego and maybe he wants ot just indulge himself in what could be.
Not an outlandish thought.
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