Update: The University of Oregon officially fired head coach Mark Helfrich with a statement at 7:00 p.m.
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Oregon has dismissed football coach Mark Helfrich tonight following a meeting with athletic director Rob Mullens, according to sources.
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The news comes days after Oregon ended it's season with a 34-24 loss at Oregon State in the Civil War to finish with a record of 4-8, the program's first losing record since 2004 and worst mark since 1991 (3-8).
Helfrich (37-16) and the coaching staff, which includes several assistants with tenures at Oregon ranging from 15 to 34 years, hit the recruiting trail on Sunday not knowing what their futures would be.
Helfrich held a press conference Sunday morning to discuss the 2016 season. He said then that had had called Mullens earlier that day to set up a meeting but Mullens told him he couldn't because he was heading to Texas early that morning to be a part of the College Football Playoff selection committee.
Helfrich, according to a source, went to California to recruit on Sunday and returned on Monday. Mullens returned to Eugene today and the two finally met tonight.
At that meeting, sources said, Helfrich had to sell Mullens on a plan to turn things around. Also factoring into the equation was Helfrich's buyout price tag of $11.6 million with there years remaining on his contract, and the fact that no obvious coaching replacement candidate had been identified. Another factor was that the coaching staff includes many who have been with the program for from 14 to 33 years. Letting go of an entire staff would require a slam-dunk alternative option that might not have existed.
Clearly, that meeting didn't go well for Helfrich.
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