Not since Rich Brooks in the 1970s has spring football arrived in Eugene with so many unknowns.
After four seasons in charge, Mark Helfrich is gone and with him, too, went the legacy of coaching continuity that defined Oregon for the past four decades. Also gone: Nine consecutive winning seasons, snapped by a 5-7 record last fall, marking UO's first time missing the postseason since 2006.
Now Willie Taggart, the first UO football coach hired from the outside since Brooks in 1976 and a disciple of Jack and Jim Harbaugh, is manning the corner office at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex.