Pat Kilkenny

Oregon booster and former athletic director and Pat Kilkenny, seen in 2007, discussed his confidence in football coach Mark Helfrich on a radio appearance Monday.

(Thomas Boyd/Staff)

Oregon Ducks booster and former athletic director Pat Kilkenny called a report of Nike co-founder and top booster Phil Knight offering $10 million for a potential next football coach "an out and out fabrication" but declined "to go down that path" when asked whether embattled coach Mark Helfrich should return next season.

Kilkenny spoke during a guest appearance on "The Bald-Faced Truth" radio show with Oregonian/OregonLive.com columnist John Canzano on Monday.

A report by ESPN's Darren Rovell that Knight sought to lure a top coach to Eugene with a $10 million salary, the highest in the country, "made me throw up," Kilkenny said, calling it out of line with UO's desire to keep its athletic department financially self-sufficient and "irresponsible journalism."

Knight, according to Kilkenny, has never told anyone "living or dead" that he'd offer a sum of $10 million for a coach.

"That just creates real problems for (AD Rob Mullens) and makes Mark Helfrich's job that's already difficult more difficult, and it's not fair to Phil and Penny Knight," Kilkenny said.

Kilkenny, who behind Knight is UO second most-influential donor, defended the Nike creator's contributions to UO, saying the state of Oregon should have a holiday on his birthday.

He also was blunt about the "really tough job" that Mullens has regarding his decision whether to keep Helfrich, who has three years remaining on a $17.5 million contract initially signed in January 2015. He would be owed a buyout of $11.6 million if fired after the season.

The Ducks have not won on the road this season but finish with two consecutive away games at Utah (Saturday, 11 a.m.) and Oregon State (Nov. 26, 1 p.m.)

"I'm sure he's tossing and turning at night," Kilkenny said of Helfrich. "The optics, the expectations are so darn high. There are a lot of good things we're doing.

"Next year I'm confident we'll be a lot better. Beyond that someone else will deal with the details."

On a personal level, Helfrich is extremely well-liked by many of the program's top boosters, including Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny, and Kilkenny and his wife, Stephanie, and the feeling is reciprocated.



"Four people that I care so much about, what they've done for this state, the program, this world in a lot of ways," Helfrich said Sunday. "And how we're performing, those people, that hits to my core. I have complete respect and admiration for all of them. Pat is an incredible man."



Given Oregon's pronounced struggles this season in losing seven of its last eight to fall to 3-7 overall, and the close involvement between the Knights and Kilkennys and UO's athletic department, the question has been raised what Oregon's most powerful supporters think of Helfrich, the coach.

Asked if Helfrich should keep his job, Kilkenny said he was not "going to go down that path."

"When I had the job I'm not sure I was capable of making those decisions and I certainly wouldn't undermine Rob Mullens, who's a brilliant, thoughtful, high-character AD who has a really tough job to do," Kilkenny said.

Two of the high-water marks in Oregon football history occurred in 2014 during Helfrich's second season when quarterback Marcus Mariota won the program's first Heisman Trophy and UO played for the national championship for the second time in five seasons.

UO is 8-8 in conference games since, and is in line to miss the postseason for the first time since 2004. Including Helfrich, the last three UO football coaches all have been promoted from within, which has created at Oregon a "unique culture," Kilkenny said, among the hire-and-fire world of college football.

The Ducks have not fired a head football coach since 1976.

"Part of the reason why coaches get compensated very significantly is they're not given mulligans," Kilkenny said. "... Having said that, it's not just about winning games, it's about making sure your leadership is someone you're proud of. We certainly have that in spades."

Kilkenny is one of few power brokers in or around Oregon to discuss Helfrich's job status on record this season. Mullens declined an interview request from The Oregonian/OregonLive on Sunday about whether his support of Helfrich -- expressed midseason during an appearance on an in-house show -- has waned in light of UO's Saturday loss to Stanford that ensured its first losing season since 2004.

"Obviously he's the only one that can answer that," Helfrich said. "I have total confidence in what we're doing.



"Obviously, again, the results have not been what anybody wants. I'm responsible for that, period. We did not play well enough in any phase yesterday, and that's my responsibility. ... We will continue to fight, we will continue to do the right things, and it will turn."

Kilkenny, who grew up in Heppner, attended Oregon but left before graduating to begin a long, lucrative career in insurance. He paid the majority of former athletic director Bill Moos' buyout in 2006 before becoming an unconventional choice to fill the athletic director seat himself one year later. But with his business background, Kilkenny was chosen to help jump-start Oregon's stalled basketball arena project and six months into the job, he helped secure a $100 million donation from Knight. He left as AD after two years but remains heavily involved with UO, saying he's consulted with Mullens this season about topics that include declining season ticket renewals and how to bolster UO's "fragile" financial self-sufficiency.

Oregon had sold out 54,000-seat Autzen Stadium 110 consecutive games entering the 2016 season but failed to fill it in five out of six home games this fall.

"It's not fun for anybody," Kilkenny said of Oregon's season. "It's tough. They work hard, they're fabulous people and nobody wants to have those kinds of outcomes."

The full audio can be heard here:

-- Andrew Greif

@andrewgreif

agreif@oregonian.com