Report: Stanford OC Pep Hamilton Interviewed for Oregon Football Vacancy

According to a report from CBS Sports’ Bruce Feldman, Stanford offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton has interviewed for the Oregon Ducks head coach vacancy.

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BREAKING: Stanford OC Pep Hamilton interviewed for Oregon head coaching job Friday, per sources: cbsprt.co/XjNiqS

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"— Bruce Feldman (@BFeldmanCBS) January 18, 2013"

Hamilton has already interviewed for the New York Jets offensive coordinator job and is expected to interview for the same position with the Indianapolis Colts later.

If Hamilton is hired by the Colts, it would reunite him with former Cardinal Andrew Luck.

UPDATE: Friday, Jan. 18, at 4:35 p.m. ET by Nathan Lowery

It appears that Hamilton's interview was completely in order to be in compliance of Oregon's state law of interviewing a minority candidate.

According to Sports Illustrated's Jim Trotter, Hamilton will be returning to the NFL, as the Colts offensive coordinator.

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Congrats to Pep Hamilton on accepting the Colts offensive coordinator position.#TheRealHU

— Jim Trotter (@SI_JimTrotter) January 18, 2013"

With Hamilton heading to Indianapolis, don't be surprised if Helfrich is officially named head coach within the next 24 hours.

---End of Update---

Many were expecting current Oregon offensive coordinator, Mark Helfrich, to be promoted to head coach following Chip Kelly’s departure to the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles on Wednesday, but the Hamilton interview could potentially stop that.

According to Oregon's athletic website, GoDucks.com, athletic director Rob Mullens said that he will conduct an extensive search to find Chip Kelly’s replacement.

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“We have a number of internal candidates,” Mullens admitted. “Again, we’ve have a staff that has been highly successful for a long period of time, so we’ve got several coaches on our staff who have the experience and background to be head coaches. Those who have expressed interest, we will obviously talk to because they have played a key role in our success. But we will also talk to others outside of our program.”

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Hamilton has been the offensive coordinator at Stanford since 2011 and he has done a great job in mentoring quarterbacks Andrew Luck and Kevin Hogan.

Stanford’s offense broke multiple school records in Hamilton’s first season on the job, including points scored, points per game and total offense.

Before arriving at Stanford, Hamilton spent three seasons as the Chicago Bears' quarterbacks coach and he has extensive NFL experience as an offensive assistant.

Hamilton, 38, would be an even younger hire than a succession plan of Helfrich, who is 39.

A move to hire Hamilton would mean a massive change for the Ducks, who have lost their head coach, defensive line coach and multiple members of personnel within the football program. Hamilton has run a multiple-approach offense at Stanford, but the pro-style backbone of the program would be a sharp contrast to Oregon’s spread.

Right now, we cannot tell if interviewing Hamilton was due to legitimate interest on Oregon’s part or a move to follow Oregon state law requiring the Ducks to interview a minority candidate—the equivalent to the NFL’s Rooney Rule. 

Stay tuned for more word on these developments.