Central Catholic's Mundt secure in his Oregon decision, sans coach

PATTERSON -- Chip Kelly is leaving the University of Oregon for the NFL's different shade and depth of green, but barring a complete coaching change in Eugene, Central Catholic senior tight end John Mundt will be signing with the Ducks.

"I'm still committed, although I was a little bummed out when I got the news," Mundt said prior to Tuesday's basketball game in Patterson. "He deserved this. He deserves to be in the NFL. I was hoping to play for him for at least one year, but you have to do what you have to do."

Shortly after the news broke that Kelly was leaving Oregon to become the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, Mundt was on the phone with Ducks' tight end coach Tom Osborne, making sure there wouldn't be other wholesale changes to the coaching staff.

It was Osborne who recruited Mundt to Oregon after the 6-foot, 4-inch, 235-pounder emerged as a prospect at last spring's Nike combine in Oakland.

"My tight ends coach will be staying, but he was offered a chance to go to Philly with Coach Kelly," Mundt said. "I'm hearing it's a 95 percent chance that Mark Helfrich, the offensive coordinator, will be stepping up. They're trying to keep everything the same, so my position coming onto the team will be the same as will my role going in."

Mundt caught 33 passes for 625 yards and eight touchdowns for Central Catholic, which posted a 14-2 record and claimed the California Division 4 bowl championship.

More recently he played in the Semper Fi All-American Game on that same Home Depot Center field in Carson and was named to the MaxPreps Small Schools All-American team. He plans on signing his official letter of intent the morning of Feb. 6, national signing day.

When presented with the scenarios that either the current Oregon coaches change their minds and follow Kelly to the NFL or the university goes a different direction than expected with the hiring of the new head coach, Mundt left the door open, just a crack.

"If that happened, I probably would have to open up my recruitment," Mundt said. "It's very unlikely, though, and I'm ready to be a Duck."