REPORT: Candidates Beginning to Emerge For Oregon Football Head Coach

Are the Ducks getting closer to naming their next head coach?

Oregon's coaching search could be heating up a bit as we head toward the weekend. A Thursday report from Footballscoop.com's John Brice listed a couple candidates that could be in the mix to lead the Ducks next year.

Chip Kelly-UCLA Head Coach

Brice reported that Kelly is "very much in it" and that makes sense. His days in Westwood over the past three seasons have been fairly average, except for the 2021 season, which saw the Bruins upset LSU at home to start the year.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson looked like he was finally playing for a coach that could fully utilize his talents and man those running backs were special. The Ducks could use a bright offensive mind to lead the program given the direction of college football, but I don't think Kelly has the same advantage that he did when he was in Eugene. 

Add in that he's been known not to put an emphasis on recruiting and you there's a concern that he wouldn't be able to attract elite talent on a consistent basis. However, when he was at Oregon he was very effective at getting the most out of the talent on the roster and the Ducks' offense is overflowing with it right now.

Kelly is a candidate that Oregon has reportedly requested to interview.

Kalani Sitake-BYU Head Coach

Another name listed in Brice's report, Sitake has had the Cougars playing some good football over the past couple of seasons. As a team they're underrated and some might say disrespected for being an independent.

However, I don't think there are a lot of teams across the country that would want to run into BYU in say, a bowl game. That's due in large part to the culture Sitake has built and the buy in that he clearly has from his players.

I can see the appeal based on his body of work. Add in that we've seen the benefit of having a Polynesian connection on the recruiting trail with some of the top recruits coming out of high school. 

One of my sources told me the interview with Oregon did not go well.

Justin Wilcox-California Head Coach

This is a name that a lot of people are familiar with locally, cause well, he's from Eugene. Before being named head coach in Berkeley, Wilcox saw time coaching as a defensive coordinator at some pretty big schools, namely Tennessee, Wisconsin and USC.

He's proven himself to be one of the better defensive minds in college football, as that was the main force behind the progress we've seen at Cal, but I'd be curious to see what kind of staff he would build around him. If the Ducks hire him, much like with Kelly, you'd likely need to get more or your recruiting firepower from assistant coaches and coordinators. There have been reports that Wilcox has interviewed with Oregon so you can tell there's legitimate interest from both sides here.

Bryan Harsin-Auburn Head Coach

The final name listed by Brice in his report is the Auburn head coach, and he was clear that he's a bit of a wildcard. 

It's only Harsin's first season with the Tigers, and I think with head coaches its hard to judge them without two to three seasons. However, that said, the Tigers went 6-6 this season, but in the best conference in college football. So I think there's something to be said for that.

Furthermore, I think he's more proven as a head coach than Wilcox is seeing the success that he was able to sustain at Boise State after Chris Petersen took the Washington job. 

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