Arizona football: 5 candidates to replace Rich Rodriguez

3. Mark Helfrich – Former Oregon head coach

After four mostly successful seasons as head coach at Oregon, Helfrich spent this season as an analyst for Fox Sports. A 4-8 record in 2016 got him fired, but Helfrich’s Ducks went 33-8 (22-5 in Pac-12 play) over his first three seasons with an appearance in the national title game.

There’s an argument that Helfrich benefited from the residue to Chip Kelly’s successful tenure at Oregon, then once all the players Kelly had a hand in recruiting were gone the on-field results fell off in his final season as head coach. But Helfrich was Kelly’s offensive coordinator from 2009-2012, and the drop-off in 2016 was primarily on the defensive side of the ball.

Arizona athletic director Dave Heeke spent 18 years at Oregon, but he never overlapped with Helfrich. But former Ducks’ coach Mike Bellotti did work with Heeke at the school, and he had Helfrich on his staff as a grad assistant in 1997. So it’s easy to see Bellotti serving as something of a matchmaker if Heeke seeks a valued opinion on Helfrich.

ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg has pointed to Helfrich as a top candidate for Arizona, with his lack of character concerns and work with quarterbacks as points in his corner. He also knows the Pac-12 well, which may not really matter but can’t hurt his candidacy.