Last year, the Oregon Ducks were one of the favorites to make it to the National Championship game. They would have been there, if not for a late season, overtime loss to the Stanford Cardinals. Oregon was a favorite to play in the championship because of their high-powered offense, which only scored under 40 points twice. However, something happened this offseason that makes people wonder if Oregon will still be as high powered. They lost their coach and leader of that high powered offense, Chip Kelly to the Philadelphia Eagles. Can Oregon survive as a top team in college football without him?
The first step to surviving the post Kelly days is getting the right coach. It seems that Oregon has done that with the hiring of Offensive Coordinator Mark Helfrich. Helfrich came to Oregon in 2009 when Kelly was hired. Now Helfrich wasn't the guy who installed this high powered offense back in 2009, that was Kelly. Helfrich wasn't even the guy calling the plays during the games, that was Kelly as well. However, Helfrich was the guy who gathered and gave Kelly all the information on the opposing team defense. He gave Kelly the opposing teams defensive formations and alignments so Kelly could be more effective at calling plays. He essentially did all of Kelly's dirty work.
The Ducks have one huge thing going for them that should help them stay near the top of college football and that is the sheer amount of talent returning this season. They are the only team in the top 10 of the final USA TODAY Sports coaches poll who didn't lose any underclassman to the NFL Draft. They lost Dion Jordan and Michael Clay, but they still have their sack leader Taylor Hart. They also still have stud cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu leading a secondary that has all four starters returning.
On offense they return nine starters from last years team. The electric De'Anthony Thomas looks to take over in the backfield for Kenjon Barner and they still have possible 1st round pick Colt Lyerla at tight end. The biggest help they will get however, is that Marcus Mariota will be under center again this year. As a Freshman last year, Mariota was responsible for close to 3,500 total yards and 38 touchdowns. Bringing him back sures up the most important position on offense and almost assures them another high scoring year.
Those are all things that should keep the Ducks near the top of the college football world for next season. The biggest thing that Helfrich has to do to keep them there long term however, is to make sure he keeps getting the top recruiting classes like Kelly did. Oregon took a hit in its 2013 recruiting class when Kelly announced his departure, but still finished with the 22nd ranked class according to Rivals. They managed to keep five-star running back Thomas Tyner who should keep the streak of game breaking backs at Oregon going.
Helfrich has his work cut out for him to keep Oregon at the top of the Pac-12 and battling to be atop all of college football. With all of that talent returning, a big year for Oregon is really needed to show recruits that Oregon is here to stay, even without Kelly. If Helfrich can do that, Oregon shouldn't have any problem staying where they are for the long haul. However, if this year goes poorly for Oregon this year, that could open the flood gates and drop Oregon down from being one of the top tier teams in college football. Everybody stay tuned, should be an exciting ride.