Mark Helfrich

Mark August Helfrich (born October 28, 1973) is an American former football coach who is an analyst for Fox Sports.

Recruited out of Marshfield High School in Coos Bay, Oregon, Helfrich was offered an opportunity to walk on at the University of Oregon; however, he decided to attend Southern Oregon instead, where he was the starting quarterback from 1992 to 1995 and was a NAIA All-American.

Helfrich saw his most successful season in 1993 as he set school records for passing yards, touchdowns, and total offense.

In the winter and spring of 1997, he played quarterback professionally, while also serving as assistant offensive coordinator in Europe for the Vienna Austria Vikings.

The Vikings reached the Austrian Football League semi finals that season.

Initially starting graduate school with his sights set on becoming an orthopedic surgeon, Helfrich's coaching career ignited at Oregon as a graduate assistant working closely under then offensive coordinator, Dirk Koetter.

When Koetter was hired as head coach at Boise State in 1998, the 24-year-old Helfrich went with him as the quarterbacks coach.

At Boise State Helfrich coached Broncos quarterback Bart Hendricks.

Under Helfrich's development, Hendricks won Big West Conference Player of the Year in 1999 and 2000 and guided the Broncos to the fourth best passing offense in the nation in 2000.

Helfrich followed Koetter to Arizona State when Koetter became the head coach of the Sun Devils.

Under the coaching of Helfrich, Andrew Walter broke nearly every Arizona State passing record and John Elway's Pac-10 touchdown record.

Walter would go on to be drafted in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft.

Dirk Koetter would later praise Helfrich for his coaching abilities, "He can do it all in his head. He doesn't have to draw the pictures on the board (…) not many people can do that. He sees the game through the quarterback's eyes. We all have ideas, but if your quarterback can't execute those ideas, they are lines on a paper. Mark is as smart a football guy as I know."

In 2006, Helfrich joined the Colorado staff to become the youngest offensive coordinator in college football on the BCS level at the age of 32.

His three seasons at Colorado were a challenge as he developed the Buffaloes dismal offense into a modest improvement.

After the 2006 season, Mike Bellotti contacted Helfrich about possibly joining Oregon, but Helfrich declined to leave Colorado after only one season; Chip Kelly was hired instead.

Two years later, Helfrich was named Oregon's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, replacing Chip Kelly after he was promoted to head coach.

During Helfrich's four seasons as Oregon's offensive coordinator the offense ranked highly nationally in several offensive categories and became well known for their extremely fast-paced offense built around speed.

Although Chip Kelly called the plays on offense, Helfrich still played an integral role in Oregon's system.

He had a large amount of involvement in the game planning, scripting, and coaching on a weekly basis while having a high amount of input in what plays are called and why they are called.

Kelly spoke highly of his protégé, "He's really, really smart and has great people skills. Sometimes, smart people can't get their point across, but he's a great communicator. When I hire people, I want to hire very, very smart people. I wanted somebody who came from a different system. I didn't want a yes-man. I wanted someone who would bring new ideas to our system."

With Helfrich coordinating under Chip Kelly, the Ducks played in four straight BCS bowls from 2009 to 2012, won three straight Pac-12 Conference championships, and continuously energized college football with one of the nation's best offenses in scoring, rushing, and total offense in each of those four seasons.

As offensive coordinator during the Kelly era, the offense averaged 44.7 points per game with an average of 283.4 rushing yards and an average of 500.7 yards of total offense.

In 2009, Jeremiah Masoli's leadership improved as he led Oregon to the 2010 Rose Bowl.

Helfrich was recognized for his impact on the Ducks' offensive success as he was named by FootballScoop as its National Quarterbacks Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2012, in addition to being one of three finalists as its national offensive coordinator of the year honor.

Rumors of Chip Kelly's departure from college football for the NFL were constant during his tenure as Oregon's coach.

The following season sophomore Darron Thomas guided an undefeated Oregon team to the 2011 BCS National Championship Game.

Oregon's offense in 2012 was hailed as its best ever as they averaged 49.6 points per game with an average of 537.4 yards of total offense with 315.2 of those yards per game from rushing.

As quarterbacks coach, Helfrich was instrumental in the development of the quarterbacks that played under his tutelage at Oregon.

Thomas finished his career 23–3 as a starter with a school-record 66 touchdown passes and led the Ducks to a 45–38 victory over #10 Wisconsin in the 2012 Rose Bowl.

The 2012 season showcased Marcus Mariota as the first freshman to start a season opener for the Ducks in 22 seasons.

Kelly refused to accept the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offer as head coach weeks after the 2012 Rose Bowl victory because he couldn't get a promise from Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens assuring him that Helfrich would be his successor.

He was the head coach for the University of Oregon from 2013 to 2016.

He led the Ducks to a 12–1 record while being named All-Pac-12 Conference First Team, Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year, and winning the 2013 Fiesta Bowl Offensive MVP Award as he guided the Ducks to a 35–17 victory over #5 Kansas State.

When Kelly began to interview for numerous NFL head coaching positions after Oregon's 2013 Fiesta Bowl victory, it was rumored that a succession plan was put into place for Helfrich to be the next head coach of the Ducks if Kelly were to ever leave.

On January 16, 2013, Kelly left Oregon to become the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.

On January 20, 2013, Helfrich accepted the offer from the University of Oregon to become the head coach of the Ducks.

As the successor to Chip Kelly, Helfrich's promotion continued an Oregon tradition that would later end when Helfrich was fired after the 2016 season.

He most recently served as the offensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears from 2018 to 2019.

He played professionally in the Austrian Football League (AFL).