We’ve previewed just about every aspect of Monday’s College Football Playoff championship game, from the basics to the barbecue, the picks to the rooting interests, and the matchups to the bingo. Now it’s time to look at a coaching matchup, between two coaches with different resumes, but some coaching similarities. Both have been here before, but in different scenarios.
3 things to know about Urban Meyer and Mark Helfrich, National Championship head coaches
Both have already made it to this stage, but it’s a first for each in his current position.
Here’s what you need to know about Ohio State’s Urban Meyer and Oregon’s Mark Helfrich entering the game.
Helfrich and Meyer. Jerome Miron, USA Today.
1. One’s won a title before ...
That would be Ohio State’s Urban Meyer, who won two during his six-year stretch at Florida. If the Buckeyes beat Oregon Monday, Meyer will join Nick Saban (LSU, Alabama) as the only two coaches to win national titles at multiple FBS programs.
Meyer is undefeated in championship games, and if he wins on Monday, he will also join Saban in another elite category: They’ll be the only two coaches to win a BCS/Playoff title with a team they also beat for one. Saban won one with LSU in 2003 and beat the Tigers with Alabama in 2011. Meyer beat the Buckeyes with Florida in 2006 and has a chance to win one with the Buckeyes this season.
Yep, Meyer both started and ended the Southeast’s run of title dominance.
2. ... and one was a runner-up as an assistant.
After Oregon offensive coordinator Chip Kelly replaced Mike Bellotti as the school’s head coach in 2009, Helfrich was brought over from Colorado to fill the vacant coordinator spot. Hiring from within is a long-running Oregon thing.
During his four years running the offense, the Ducks went 46-7 with an astonishing 33-3 Pac-12 record, losing 22-19 to Auburn in the 2011 BCS National Championship Game.
That year, Oregon’s offense ranked 16th nationally, according to the Football Outsiders F/+ ratings. This year, the Ducks’ offense ranks second nationally in F/+.
3. They’re actually not so different.
Meyer visited the Ducks under Chip Kelly and borrowed some of their philosophy in his effort to turn the Buckeyes into a Big Ten power. It seems to have worked, and he has his first chance for a national title with Ohio State on Monday.
Both programs run explosive offenses with dual-threat quarterbacks, and are equally capable of scoring on the ground or through the air on just about any down. Both teams also have strong defenses -- this is the title game, after all -- but a high-scoring game is to be expected.
Overall, these teams are similar in that they’re among the best in the country. In fact, the F/+ ratings see them as the top two teams in the country — the first time since 2011 that the title game matched up teams that held the top two spots. And two similarly outstanding teams is exactly what you want in the National Championship.
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