For people who care deeply about Oregon football, December 2016 is being looked at as a make-or-break turning point for the future of the program. On the surface, the program under Helfrich was on a steady decline. When Chip Kelly handed him the keys to the Ferrari of college football programs in 2013, the Ducks were on a roll, having finished No. 2 in the polls following the 2012 season after being No. 4 in 2011.

While Helfrich was able to maintain the momentum for two seasons, 2015 ended on a decidedly sour note with the Ducks’ second-half implosion against TCU in the Alamo Bowl. Then of course there is the debacle that was 2016, a 4-8 season in which the wheels started to come off early, complete with post-game accusations of teammates giving up.

Looking at this body of work, as well as off-field issues with some players the University is unable to discuss, Athletic Director Rob Mullens made the decision to fire Mark Helfrich, a course of action supported by about three-quarters of the fan base. That firing took place on November 29th, several days after the Ducks’ Civil War loss.

And why not? The season was over, the decision was made. The program was moving in a whole new direction.

But like all things, big changes can have equally substantial ramifications, intended or otherwise. Firing Helfrich and saying, as Mullens did, that the new coach will pick his own staff, means the entire Oregon staff has been fired. Or at the very least, is in limbo until the new head coach chooses to retain them or not. And that is if they are still interested.

Without a coaching staff, there will be no recruiting, which is the lifeblood of college football.

Normally this can be largely mitigated. Most recruits commit to the school, not necessarily the coaching staff. The new coaches come in and get their chance to save the group. The Ducks had 15 commitments to their class of 2017, two of whom have subsequently changed their minds. These are the “lowest hanging fruit” for the new staff to land come letter-of-intent day.

But if the coaching search takes a long time, adding new prospects, and the new Oregon staff needs to land about ten, becomes much more difficult. The NCAA recruiting ‘dead period’ begins December 12th and lasts through January 11th. During this time, they may not have any in person contact with prospects, on or off campus. After that there are 19 days, until another dead period starts January 30th, for the shiny, new Duck staff to fly all across the country trying to convince the nation’s top recruits and their families that Oregon is the place to be.

Seven days have passed since Oregon has been without a coaching staff. While Washington, USC, Oregon State and every other program are out on the road during their limited “contact period” window, the Ducks are dead in the water. And even if Mullens were to announce a new head coach today, it would be tough for him to assemble a staff, develop a recruiting list and hit the road by December 12th.

The bottom line is, this coaching transition will almost assuredly hurt the Ducks’ recruiting class of 2017. The lost time and momentum, not to mention the two four-star prospects already gone, will take its toll on the program in some manner. How it manifests itself is impossible to measure, but it will have an effect. The longer the search takes, the bigger that effect will be.

For Rob Mullens, recruiting this class is not his chief concern. While he is undoubtedly aware of the need for a timely hire, making the right choice is far more important to him. And his pool of applicants are all either busy preparing themselves for bowl games, or their next NFL game.

Regardless of how busy everybody is though, the sooner the new staff is in place, the better Oregon’s recruiting class will be, extending their honeymoon period. But while Duck fans largely agreed with Mullens' decision to initiate a coaching search, the longer it goes the less forgiving they will be if he does not land the needle-moving coach they are expecting.