Mark Helfrich grew up a fan of the Oregon Ducks and served as a graduate assistant on the football staff for one year after completing his college career at Southern Oregon University.

Now the former Marshfield quarterback has one of the highest positions on the Oregon coaching staff.

Helfrich was named offensive coordinator for the Ducks on Thursday, after serving three years in the same position at the University of Colorado.

“Growing up in this state and as a long-time Duck fan makes this opportunity a dream come true,” Helfrich said in a news release on the University’s Web page, www.goducks.com. “I have a lot of respect for the guys who have helped build Oregon football into what it is today, which makes this a very attractive place to be.”

Helfrich grew up in Coos Bay and graduated from Marshfield in 1992 after starting for most of three years as the Pirates’ quarterback. At Southern Oregon, he was a four-year letterman at quarterback. He was an NAIA scholar-athlete as a sophomore in 1993, when he also led the nation in total offense and was an NAIA honorable mention All-American and first-team Columbia Football Association quarterback. That year, he had 2,712 passing yards, with 23 touchdowns, and rushed for an additional 484 yards and three scores. He battled injuries his final two years at Southern Oregon.

He also will serve as quarterbacks coach at Oregon.

New Oregon head coach Chip Kelly said Helfrich’s experience working with outstanding quarterbacks at both Boise State and Arizona State will be a plus for the Ducks.

“Mark not only impressed me as a very intelligent individual but as someone who utilized that knowledge to coach quarterbacks at both Boise State and Arizona State,” Kelly said in the news release. “He has earned a national reputation for developing quarterbacks and played a key role in the emergence of Andrew Walter and Rudy Carpenter at Arizona State. He was highly recommended by everyone he has ever worked with and I view him as one of the rising offensive minds in this game.”

Helfrich will coordinate the passing game for Oregon, while longtime Oregon assistant Steve Greatwood will coordinate the running game, another move announced by Kelly on Thursday.

“I credit much of our success running the football the last two seasons to Steve Greatwood, which is why I feel he has earned the opportunity to expand his role with the Oregon offense,” Kelly said. “There is no doubt we benefitted from outstanding players at key positions that contributed to our unprecedented success on the ground, but Steve’s ability to develop some of the best offensive linemen in school history cannot be overlooked.”

Helfrich was the youngest offensive coordinator at a Bowl Championship Series school while he was at Colorado. The Buffaloes improved their offense each season, and last year beat West Virginia 17-14 in overtime, the highlight in a 5-7 season.

Helfrich hopes to continue the success Oregon has had over the past two decades.

“I have a good sense for what the University of Oregon stands for nationally, and the reputation that Oregon football and the university have created carries a lot of weight when it comes to convincing recruits to consider their options against the likes of the USCs of the world,” he said in the release. “I believe I can take advantage of those assets to not only help the players at Oregon now but capture the interests of those across the country.”

At Marshfield, Helfrich became the only sophomore ever to start at quarterback for coach Kent Wigle, and the only three-year starter.

Wigle said this morning he knew early that Helfrich could be a good coach.

“He’s really a good leader,” Wigle said. “The No. 1 thing Mark’s concerned about and always has been is the team and the team camaraderie.

“Plus, he’s very, very gifted.”

Helfrich graduated from Southern Oregon with a degree in biology and considered pursuing medical school, Wigle said.

“It helps to have that intelligence and brightness,” he said.

Wigle also credited Helfrich’s parents, Mike and Linda, with grooming Helfrich into the type of leader who is good for college students to work with.

“Mike and Linda have done a good job of raising a son who has good values,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for young people at Oregon to work with a guy you know is a really good person.”

Helfrich was a graduate assistant for the Ducks in 1997, but followed Dirk Koetter to Boise State in 1988 and then Arizona State in 2001, serving as quarterbacks coach at both schools.

When Dan Hawkins became head coach at Colorado, Helfrich took the offensive coordinator job with the Buffaloes.

Helfrich coached running backs at Southern Oregon in 1996 before playing and serving as offensive coordinator for the Vienna Vikings in Austria in 1997. He then joined Oregon’s staff as a graduate assistant.