The Sports Brewery

Bellotti Leaving Marks an End of an Era at the UO

Posted on 20. Mar, 2010 at 9:47 am by bbryan in Beer + Stuff, Football, NCAA Football, Oregon Ducks Football, PAC-10 Football

The news that Mike Bellotti will step down as Athletic Director at the University of Oregon to take a job at ESPN came as no surprise.  The move to the AD spot seemed rushed and against Bellotti’s desires.  He did it because it was right for Pat Kilkenny, right for Chip Kelly, right for the University, but it wasn’t the right move for Bellotti.  And on Friday Bellotti decided to do what was right for himself effectively ending an era at Oregon.

During Bellotti’s time at Oregon the Athletic Department accomplished many great things and saw incredible growth.  While many share in the credit, from Rich Brooks to Bill Moos to Ernie Kent to Uncle Phil himself, there is no denying Bellotti was the most important player in all of this.

He made an immediate impact the moment he stepped on campus as offensive coordinator in 1989.  He brought a little style to Rich Brook’s 3-yards and a clout of dust offense.  Oregon’s new found offense helped lead them to their first bowl game in 26 years, the Independence Bowl.  The following year the Ducks made the Freedom Bowl marking their first back-to-back bowl appearances in the history of the program.

We all know the how it played out from there.  The Ducks made an improbable Rose Bowl run and Rich Brooks split, leaving the keys to the program to Bellotti, effectively making him the face of Oregon Athletics.  Bellotti represented the program and university with class and dignity.  He was great with boosters and with the media.  He also won a few football games while in charge.  One of the best things about Bellotti the coach is he wasn’t afraid to bring in better offensive minds than himself.  First with Tedford and then with Kelly (he even tried with Crowton, but great offensive mind he wasn’t.) He never let his ego get in the way of success on the field.

And while we are talking Bellotti let’s dispel this notion that he is running away from the program.  Clownzano was pushing this theory hard on his radio show yesterday, The Bald Faced Truth.  Bellotti stayed through to see a resolution to the football players legal troubles and he stayed to do the dirty work with Ernie Kent.  That doesn’t sound like s0meone who is running way.  It amazes me that the man does right by the university for 21 years only to have some clown on the radio question his integrity.

Bellotti will no doubt be missed and there is now a serious void of leadership in the UO Athletic Department.  Will Chip Kelly step into that role?  I’m not sure he’s fitted for it.  The greatest thing about having Bellotti in the AD spot was it allowed Chip to be Chip.  And with Bellotti gone it feels like the transformation from cool character leadership to cut throat business leadership, that started with the hiring of Pat Kilkenny as AD,  is now complete at the University of Oregon.