Fansided

Top-10 coaches most likely to make the jump to the NFL

By Robert Judin

Oct 3, 2015; College Station, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Kevin Sumlin reacts from the sidelines against the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the first half at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 3, 2015; College Station, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Kevin Sumlin reacts from the sidelines against the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the first half at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 17, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Mark Helfrich reacts to a spot of the ball by the officials during the third quarter against the Washington Huskies at Husky Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 17, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Mark Helfrich reacts to a spot of the ball by the officials during the third quarter against the Washington Huskies at Husky Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports /

7. Mark Helfrich – Oregon Ducks

This might not have been a name you’d expect to show up on this list, but Mark Helfrich has an interesting resume to offer an NFL team.

Since he took over for Chip Kelly three years ago, Helfrich has taken the Oregon Ducks to a 28-7 record. They’ve won two bowl games and made an appearance in the national championship last season — losing to Ohio State.

In actuality, though, Helfich’s time with Oregon goes back to 1997 when he served as a graduate assistant. He was the offensive coordinator at Colorado before he took the same position at Oregon in 2009.

The intriguing factor about Helfrich, though, is his connection to Kelly. Regardless of the obstacles he’s run into this season, Kelly has found a lot of success with the Philadelphia Eagles. In fact, it wasn’t until Kelly was given complete power of the roster that things began to sour. Before that, many people were calling him a “genius.”

Helfrich can offer the offensive schematics that he and Kelly both ran at Oregon. He could, in a way, be the Eli Manning to Kelly’s Peyton Manning — different branch, same tree.

If Ken Whisenhunt can’t get things going with the Tennessee Titans in the next year or so, the Titans may be interested in pairing Helfrich with Marcus Mariota to recapture the success that brought them to a national championship game.

That would give Helfrich a little more time to get the Ducks back on track and raise his stock a little more by winning with “his guys” instead of Kelly’s.

Another possibility is if the Cleveland Browns parted ways with Mike Pettine. The Browns could ask Helfrich to put Johnny Manziel back in his natural habitat — running the football with a heavy dose of the zone-read.

Either way, keep an eye out on Helfrich in the next few years. His name could be tossed around.

Next: Gary Patterson

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