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As if he needed it, Mark Helfrich’s hot seat just got a little bit hotter. During yesterday’s 45-20 loss to USC, ESPN’s Darren Rovell reported that Nike co-founder Phil Knight is ready to toss absurd money at a coach in order to bring a national championship to Oregon.
There's talk heating up in Oregon that Phil Knight is ready to throw insane $10M+ a year money at a football coach. He's 78, wants a title.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) November 5, 2016
If the report turned out to be true, and the Ducks did bring in a big-name coach, he would be the highest paid coach in college football by a million dollars.
Currently, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh is the highest paid coach in the country with an annual salary of just over $9 million. Other top coaches include Alabama’s Nick Saban ($7 million), Ohio State’s Urban Meyer ($6 million) and Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops ($5.5 million).
Where does Mark Helfrich rank on this list? He sits at No. 29 with an annual salary of $3.3 million.
Should Mark Helfrich be fired at this point? I’m really not sure. Maybe this is just a down year while we start to develop the offensive line and Justin Herbert. Maybe we just ride the storm out and wait for better days ahead. Or maybe we need to blow up everything we knew, bring in an entirely new staff and start from ground zero.
If you had the power to hire a new coach for the Ducks, and Phil Knight gave you a $10 million per year budget, who would you go after?