In the midst of a 2-4 start and fresh off a 70-21 loss to Washington on Saturday, Oregon AD Rob Mullens talked about Mark Helfrich's job security with Ducks. Appearing on the school's campus radio station (via Duck Territory), Mullens said:
"I understand the frustration. Absolutely appreciate the passion. We are six games into the season and not where anyone wants to be. But (t)here's still an opportunity to turn this a little bit and start to see some positive results. We have a wonderful group of student-athletes and we need to do everything we can to support the coaches, the student-athletes, especially the seniors as they go through the last go around."
Helfrich went 24-4 in his first two seasons since taking over for Chip Kelly, leading the Ducks to the Alamo Bowl in 2013 and a Pac-12 title and the inaugural College Football Playoff national championship game a year later. Oregon posted a 9-4 mark last year and won its first two games this fall before its ongoing four-game losing streak.
The Ducks have struggled defensively and relied on graduate transfers at quarterback since Marcus Mariota's graduation. True freshman Justin Herbert did start at quarterback on Saturday, though.
"Obviously, when you're a coach in any sport, your results are very transparent. People watch it on the field," Mullens said. "In football, it's 12 Saturdays and it's there for everyone to see. There are a lot of things to happen Monday through Friday that you're also evaluating. It's just a continuous process of what can we do today to help support the coaches, support the student-athletes to meet these lofty expectations. That will continue and then, there is a time where you look at it all and say 'how did we perform?'"