DALLAS, Texas – Taking a seat at the Paramount Studios for the Pac-12 Media Days in late July, Mark Helfrich suddenly met a swarm of reporters encircling him. For the better part of an hour, he was pressed with a variety of questions as cameras and audio recorders overwhelmed the stage-like platform he sat at. More of this was on the agenda for Helrich afterward. Television and radio appearances, as well as photo opportunities, followed.
Throughout the entire day, the same type of question persisted.
As he prepared to embark on his second season as the head coach of the Oregon football team, what mark he made on the program seemed to be theme. His predecessor, after all, led the program to four consecutive BCS bowl games and after one season in charge, Helfrich was faced with those through-the-roof expectations.
He quickly made it clear though, that the type of signature he left on the football program at Oregon wasn’t a matter that concerned him.
“If our players are 100 percent committed to our culture, 100 percent to our process, that’s our mark,” Helfrich said back in July.
Despite his dismissal of the query, Helfrich time and again has been confronted with the question during his second stint as a head coach. As Oregon dominated in all but one week of the season and secured itself a birth in the College Football Playoff, the same type of verbiage always followed.
Yet his response back in July has come to signify the singular impact he has made. Oregon now prepares to face Ohio State in the College Football Playoff National Championship at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas simply because everyone has bought in. 100%.
“When guys buy in, that is the mark,” redshirt senior Dior Mathis, who has been coached by both Chip Kelly and Helfrich, said. “Once that happens we’re a team and we’re playing as good as we’ve been playing. So once that happens, you get a sense of what this Oregon Ducks team is like.”
For senior linebacker Derrick Malone, the biggest factor with Helfrich and the rest of the coaching staff stems from trust. He points to subtle details, such as hot tubbing multiple times a week versus once like they had done before, that have improved the performance of him and all those around him.
“That’s what it is,” Malone said. “You follow me, you trust the coaches, you trust the process that we set forth and we’re going to pick our heads up and be in a great position at the end of the season. Everything that he’s asked us to do we’ve done it and that’s why we’re in the position that we’re in today.”
Oregon is in this position today despite a never-ending list of setbacks. The team’s been plagued with injuries across the board at offensive line and at wide receiver, yet has still managed to average 47.2 points per game, which ranks second in the nation.
All of that starts with coaches, according to Marcus Mariota.
“They’ve really prepared each and every single player for their opportunity,” Mariota said. “It’s given each guy confidence to go out there and play to the best of their abilities. That’s what I love about this team. Everyone talks about the next guy up. For us it’s really helped us and provided us with success.”
With all of that success this season, Helfrich hasn’t been able to escape the question, and Saturday at the National Championship Media Day was no different. His answer has still yet to change.
“I never have viewed this program as my program,” Helfrich said. “It’s all these guys, it’s obviously a combination of the assistant coaches, the administration, the support, the fans, all those things that go into it, and we’re just kind of on a train that’s trying to get more efficient, better, faster, all those things.”
That train is nearing a place it’s never finished before: as a national champion. According to longtime Oregon assistant Don Pellum, who is in his first year as defensive coordinator, a lot of the credit for that position is because of Helfrich.
“He challenges these guys,” Pellum said just days before the Rose Bowl. “It’s really neat the way he does it. I think a big part of our success is due to the leadership of Helfrich, and it’s not just with the players, it’s with the administrative staff. It’s with the coaches. He empowers us to do our job and gives us the resources, and he says go.”
It’s been a driving force behind his short tenure and a reason why senior Tony Washington feels like every player at Oregon has a certain level of respect for him. He’s created, or at least continued, a chain effect that has been passed down from coaches to upperclassmen to incoming freshman.
It’s worked out too. The seniors have bought in, and according to Malone everyone coming in each year has and will follow after that.
That, as Pellum says, “that’s the Mark Helfrich way.”
Follow Justin Wise on Twitter @JustinFWise