Oregon's former athletic director will reportedly go on the air on Monday to discuss the school's recent woes and speculation around the firing of head coach Mark Helfrich.
If the school does go through with letting him walk, Stewart Mandel has tabbed three coaches who may make the journey up to Eugene — Tom Herman (if Charlie Strong doesn't leave Texas), P.J. Fleck and Dana Holgorsen.
Herman is the likely candidate for nearly any gig, but when you combine the support from boosters with the talent Oregon seems to be able to draw, he might rise quickly to the top of the list if Helfrich is fired.
Fleck is a serious darkhorse candidate after building a dominant Western Michigan in just four years. His first season ended with just one win, but he hasn't won fewer than eight contests in the last three years, including an unbeaten 10-0 year this season.
Holgorsen could be another solid fit after quite a successful tenure at West Virginia.
The school's biggest benefactor, Nike co-founder Phil Knight, has reportedly said that he is willing to pay ridiculous amounts of money — about $10 million a year — for a new head coach.
With another loss this season, this time a 55-27 drubbing at the hands of Stanford, the Ducks are reeling and needing a new coach. Helfrich might be 36-15 in his time at Oregon, but a lot of those players were Kelly's and now that mostly his recruited players are on campus, he has not performed quite like his predecessors.
