Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich looked outside the box after the 2015 season concluded, and the Ducks are starting fresh on the defensive side of the ball with Brady Hoke as the newly appointed defensive coordinator.

Hoke, who was most recently head coach at Michigan from 2011-14, was officially announced as the coordinator on Saturday and will bring his own defensive scheme with him, Helfrich said via a conference call.

Contrary to the 3-4 hybrid defense Oregon has run since 2009, the Ducks will shift to a 4-3 base. But, Oregon changing its base alignment is secondary news.

The more significant storyline that arose Saturday is the “different direction” Oregon expects to head with an experienced defensive mind who has over a decade’s worth of experience as a Division I head coach.

“We’re in the ‘get better’ business,” Helfrich said. “We just felt as a program that was the direction we needed to go in, as far as the different voice, the different command over the unit.”

It is a direction that Helfrich said he knew needed to be taken before the season had concluded. The Oregon defense, under defensive coordinator Don Pellum, was exposed time after time in the fall and ranked at the bottom of the Pac-12 in nearly ever defensive category.

The Ducks’ collapse in their 47-41 loss to TCU in the Alamo Bowl only seemed to further indicate that something needed to change. Just two days after the loss, Helfrich announced that Pellum would be demoted to linebackers coach and that a nationwide defensive coordinator search would commence.

“[Pellum] is a part of the solution,” Helfrich said of the Oregon assistant who coached linebackers for the program for 23 years before being promoted to defensive coordinator in 2014. “His contribution to this point and beyond this point has been tremendous and that will continue, just in a different role.”

Oregon Defensive Coordinator Don Pellum addresses the media during the press conference. Players and coaches speak at a press conference at the San Antonio Mariott Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas on Thursday, December 31, 2015. (Adam Eberhardt/Emerald)

However, Helfrich admitted that a “wholesale” change needed to occur after the defensive performance in 2015, a year in which the Ducks allowed a school-record 37.5 points per game.

It is likely why he ventured away from hiring within the Oregon program. Hoke’s track record suggests the position is receiving a significant upgrade too. Although he’s never been a defensive coordinator at the collegiate level, Hoke has been intimately involved at all of his head coaching gigs—places where he’s experienced plenty of success.

Hoke helped turn Michigan into one of the more stout defensive teams in the country in 2011. In 2010, the Wolverines’ defense ranked 107th in scoring defense, but after Hoke’s first year, ranked sixth in that category. The defense ranked in the top 17 in the nation in three of Hoke’s four seasons and allowed just 311.3 yards per game in 2014.

Hoke has also built a reputation as a fantastic recruiter, hauling in multiple top-10 recruiting classes while in charge at Michigan. And despite his tenure in Ann Arbor ending poorly, Helfrich thinks Hoke will become a vital part of his coaching staff.

“He’s a great guy,” said Helfrich, who described having an assistant with head coaching experience as invaluable. “He’s fun to be around, guys love to play for him—which again plays into the recruiting part of it. Passionate about great defense, about details, about communication.”

Ron Aiken will continue to coach the defensive line and John Neal the defensive backs, but Helfrich did say that responsibilities could be altered after the spring if needed. The idea is for Hoke to be a walk-around defensive coordinator when practices begin in April.

Hoke is also expected to be allowed to show off his strengths in the recruiting department as early as this week. And with the Feb. 3 official signing date fast approaching, it appears that he has some crucial work ahead.

But from a longterm standpoint, Helfrich’s hire certainly confirms the altered course Oregon plans to head in on defense.

Follow Justin Wise on Twitter @JustinFWise