It depends on which way you want to look at it. The offense never fell off after Kelly left. Even this year, when they went 4-8, they were 15th in the nation in total offense. The program declined because of mainly defense and recruiting. Helfrich even had a couple QB's after Mariota that would have worked out if they could have stayed healthy like Vernon Adams who he only had one season to coach because he was a grad transfer.
Also, look at Helfrichs track record before Kelly.
1999 - Boise St. QB coach - His quarterback won Big West Conference Player of the year. 4th passing offense in nation.
2001 - Arizona State QB coach - His QB broke every Arizona State passing record and torched John Elways Pac-10 touchdown record.
2006-2012 - First OC job at Colorado - Took Colorado from bottom dweller offense to slightly above average. His offense wasn't nearly as dynamic as it is now but he was also the youngest OC in the country.
Also, Listen to the way his former bosses spoke about his offensive intelligence:
Kelly spoke highly of his protégé, "He's really, really smart and has great people skills. Sometimes, smart people can't get their point across, but he's a great communicator. When I hire people, I want to hire very, very smart people. I wanted somebody who came from a different system. I didn't want a yes-man. I wanted someone who would bring new ideas to our system."
Dirk Koetter would later praise Helfrich for his coaching abilities, "He can do it all in his head. He doesn't have to draw the pictures on the board (
) not many people can do that. He sees the game through the quarterback's eyes. We all have ideas, but if your quarterback can't execute those ideas, they are lines on a paper. Mark is as smart a football guy as I know."
This is why I want Helfrich. If you look closer and listen to people talk about his football intelligence, he is a home run hire.
