Where Oregon Head Coach Mark Helfrich Ranks Among Top College Football Coaches?

Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich is finally being paid like one of the best coaches in college football, but is he actually one of the best coaches in nation?

The short answer is, emphatically, yes.

Early this week Helfrich and the university agreed on a five-year, $17.5 million contact extension, which was first reported by Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports. 

Even at $3.2 million in 2014-15, a $1.2 million raise over his original contract, per George Schroeder of USA Today, Helfrich still may be a bargain for the Ducks.

In two seasons at the helm in Eugene, Helfrich has gone 24-4 overall and is 15-3 in the Pac-12. More importantly, this past season, Helfrich guided Oregon to their first Pac-12 championship since 2011 and a spot in the first College Football Playoff.

Yes, the Ducks’ season ended in disappointment as they fell to Ohio State in the title game. However, that shouldn’t diminish how successful Helfrich has been as Oregon’s head coach.

While some will point to the fact that Helfrich walked into perhaps the cushiest job in America when former head coach Chip Kelly bolted for the NFL, that shouldn’t cast a shadow over Helfrich’s short tenure.

Kelly coached the Ducks for four incredibly successful seasons, going 46-7 overall and 33-3 in conference. But Kelly failed to guide the Ducks to victories over top-tier non-conference opponents. 

Helfrich, in his two years, has only lost once to a non-conference opponent—Ohio State—and has taken down the likes of Michigan State and Florida State, the defending national champions.

Yes, Kelly’s Ducks beat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl and Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl. But his teams also lost to non-conference opponents like Ohio State, Auburn, Boise State and LSU.

That isn't to say that Helfrich is a better coach than Kelly, but Helfrich has built upon the foundation that Kelly laid and made Oregon a better football program.

As Brian Leigh of Bleacher Report writes, Helfrich has earned his new contract based on everything he’s done up to this point:

"

Helfrich still has something to prove, and he'll get his chance with Mariota leaving for the NFL next season. Eastern Washington transfer Vernon Adams leads a field of five candidates to replace him.

Can Helfrich win with a new face under center? We'll find out in 2015. But based on what he's done to this point—not just at Oregon, but before—he has earned the benefit of the doubt.

He's earned that new paycheck, too.

"

Leigh’s article also points out that Helfrich has made Chip Kelly’s “blur” offense even more deadly over the past two seasons. Yes, he’s had the benefit of one of the best players in college football history in Mariota, but he’s still responsible for captaining the ship.

While Helfrich’s new contract is one of the most lucrative in the NCAA, he’s still being paid less than some of the best coaches in the country.

This begs a new question: Where does Helfrich rank in terms of Power Five conference coaches?

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

While he’s only been around for two years, Helfrich is one of eight active coaches to have led his team to a national championship appearance since 2004.

The others?

Do the names Nick Saban, Bob Stoops, Urban Meyer, Les Miles, Gus Malzahn, Brian Kelly and Jimbo Fisher sound familiar?

If the ultimate goal for top-tier Power Five programs is to reach national championship games, then wouldn’t it stand to reason that Helfrich is one of the eight best coaches in the country?

The argument against Helfrich being included in that group goes something like this: He has Marcus Mariota, he’s riding the coattails of Chip Kelly, he’s lost to Arizona twice and his team was manhandled in the CFP National Championship.

While that angle isn’t completely false, it also doesn’t take into account any of Helfrich’s successes. There have been a whole lot of those over the past 28 games.

At this point in time, there are probably only three or four coaches that could do as good of a job as Helfrich has done over the past two years: Meyer, Saban, Malzahn and maybe Fisher.

Is Helfrich a top-five coach right now? Probably not. He’s too inexperienced and he hasn’t had to rebuild or retool any part of the Oregon program. He’ll get his chance to do that this upcoming season.

But is Helfrich a top-10 coach at this moment in time? Based on his track record over the past two years, he certainly has to be in the conversation.

More importantly, he’s the right fit in Eugene. He knows the program better than just about anyone, he has a great rapport with his team and coaches and has a fantastic football mind.

If I were creating coaching tiers, the first one would consist of Meyer and Saban. No one can touch the success they’ve had over the past decade. I would put Miles and Fisher in the second tier, based on the fact that they’ve won national titles in recent years. After that, the third tier would consist of coaches like Helfrich, Malzahn, Kelly, Stoops, Jim Harbaugh, Art Briles, Gary Patterson, Mark Dantonio and Mark Richt.

Helfrich is one of the top-10 coaches in America right now. We’ll see where Helfrich ranks next year, as he has to replace Mariota. If Helfrich is once again able to guide Oregon to a Pac-12 championship and a spot in the College Football Playoff, there will be no doubting his place among college football’s elite coaches.

Of course, if Oregon takes a step back in 2015, the blame, fairly or unfairly, will be placed squarely on the shoulders of Oregon’s third-year head coach.

But, for now, Helfrich’s tenure at Oregon has been incredibly successful. He’s deserving of his new contract and the Ducks are lucky to have him.

Statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com unless otherwise stated. All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise stated.

Jason Gold is Bleacher Report’s lead Oregon writer. Follow Jason on Twitter @TheSportsGuy33.