Oregon promotes Helfrich

Mark Helfrich is Oregon’s next man in.

As usual, the Ducks wasted little time finding a replacement for Chip Kelly, promoting their affable offensive coordinator to head coach Sunday. Kelly left to become coach of the Philadelphia Eagles on Wednesday.

Helfrich is the third straight offensive coordinator at Oregon to be promoted to the top job, following Kelly and his predecessor, Mike Bellotti.

The 39-year-old Oregon native signed a five-year deal with the Ducks for a reported $9 million. His promotion does not come as a surprise: Even before Oregon defeated Kanas State in the Fiesta Bowl, the Ducks’ quarterbacks guru was considered the front-runner as Kelly’s successor.

“Going forward we will attack in all phases. We’ll embrace innovation and we’ll strive to do our best to win each and every day,” Helfrich said at a news conference Sunday afternoon where he was supported by players including quarterback Marcus Mariota and running back De’Anthony Thomas.

Helfrich, who embodies Oregon’s “Next Man In” philosophy of substitution without skipping a beat, became offensive coordinator of the Ducks when Kelly took over four seasons ago. The Ducks have appeared in BCS bowls each of those four years, including an appearance in the national championship game against Auburn in 2011.

The Ducks, ranked No. 2 in the final Associated Press Top 25, finished 12-1 this season.

Kelly, credited with creating Oregon’s innovative hurry-up spread offense, went 46-7 as head coach at Oregon. It had been widely expected that he would jump to the NFL, leaving many surprised when he announced he was staying at Oregon after interviewing with Philadelphia, Cleveland and Buffalo following the Fiesta Bowl. Nine days later, however, he changed his mind and decided to go to the Eagles.

Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens said Oregon had already started the process of finding a replacement for Kelly following the Fiesta Bowl. He said it was important to name a successor quickly, because letter of intent signing day is Feb. 6.

Mullens said he interviewed five candidates in person.

“We went through the process because we felt it was important to do our due diligence and we kept coming back to Mark,” Mullens said Sunday.

There are not expected to be any major changes under Helfrich. But he hinted he may allow greater access to practice – something that Kelly had shut down this season – and he joked about a few other tweaks.

“I won’t wear a visor, I’ll eat more vegetables,” he said.

Sources said Sunday that Oregon promoted wide receivers coach Scott Frost, the former Nebraska quarterback, to replace Helfrich as offensive coordinator.