Oregon Elevates Aide To Be Head Coach Offensive Coordinator Mike Bellotti Signs Four-Year Deal To Replace Rich Brooks As The Ducks Football Boss
Just three days after the job became open, the University of Oregon named offensive coordinator Mike Bellotti as its head football coach Monday.
Bellotti, 44, signed a four-year contract worth $175,000 a year.
He emerged immediately as the top candidate after Rich Brooks resigned late last week to become coach of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams.
Bellotti said it was important to name Brooks’ successor quickly “for the peace of mind of the coaches on the staff, peace of mind of the players in the program and the recruits we had signed.”
Dan Williams, Oregon’s acting athletic director, said there were six candidates for the job and he chose Bellotti because he was well thought of within the program, had coaching experience and had the appropriate values.
“He’s very smart. He travels well,” Williams said. “He’s a wonderful public representative of the university and it’s clear to me in the visits I’ve had with the players that he knows his football and they like him.”
The other candidates were Oregon assistants Nick Aliotti and Neal Zoumboukas, California offensive coordinator Denny Schuler, UCLA offensive coordinator Bob Toledo and former Stanford offensive coordinator Terry Shea.
Bellotti came to Oregon in 1989 after five seasons at Chico State, where he was 23-25-2. Oregon has averaged nearly 4,000 yards per season under him.
Bellotti and Williams said they knew there would be criticism of the hiring from people who felt the search should have taken longer and that people outside the Oregon program should have been given stronger consideration.
“I got a lot of calls that strongly supported other candidates and I can understand that,” Williams said, “but I’m the one accountable for the success of the program, so I need to do what in my judgment is in the best interest of the program and the university.”
Brooks recommended Bellotti, but that was not an overriding factor in the decision, Williams said.
Bellotti said there are probably other coaches as well-qualified for this job as he is.
“However, the fact that I am here makes me more qualified and I think the administration believes that, too,” he said. “I hope over the course of time, people who question it now will say `Boy, that’s a great decision.”’