Bellotti Makes Change Look Easy Oregon Ducks Switch Coaches, But Stick With The Philosophies That Brought Them Success On The Field

Coaching changes almost always breed a degree of uncertainty, discontent and, in some cases, out-right player rebellion.

Mike Price sampled the whole platter when he moved from Weber State to take over the Washington State football program seven years ago.

He suffered through a couple of rocky seasons and a wave of booster unrest, but he persevered.

And he emerged a stronger person and wiser coach, capable, now, of fully appreciating the remarkably smooth transition Mike Bellotti has directed since taking over the University of Oregon football program from Rich Brooks last winter.

Bellotti, who had spent the previous six seasons as Brooks’ offensive coordinator, was promoted almost immediately after his mentor severed his long-time ties with Oregon and bolted for the NFL, taking four of his UO assistants with him to St. Louis.

Bellotti inherited a veteran-rich team that was coming off its first Rose Bowl appearance in 37 years. And to his credit, he didn’t screw it up.

The Ducks, 2-1 in the Pacific-10 Conference and 5-1 overall, head into Saturday’s 7 p.m. Autzen Stadium showdown against Price’s Cougars (2-1, 3-3) ranked 12th in the country and just 1-1/2 games behind USC in defense of their conference title.

They boast one of the best rushing defenses in the Pac10, along with a highly productive offense, and have won three of their games with gutsy fourth-quarter comebacks.

“This particular group of Oregon Ducks must have a lot of character,” Price said earlier this week, “just because of what happened to them last season with the coaching change and the job that they have done.”

The key Price believes was in hiring an insider like Bellotti, who has pretty much stayed the course originally plotted by Brooks.

“They worked so hard to get the program where it is,” Price said. “So when (Brooks) leaves, they didn’t waste any time in selecting Mike, which I thought was smart.”

Bellotti went out and hired four new assistants, including offensive coordinator Al Borges and defensive coordinator Charlie Waters, and set about making sure that everything Brooks had built in his 18 years at Oregon wasn’t destroyed.

He kept the same basic philosophies, schemes and terminologies on offense and defense, adding a few of his own personal offensive touches in the way of more diverse formations and increased motion and shifting.

And he let his new coordinators flex all of the creative muscle they wanted, as long as they stayed within the framework that proved so successful last season.

“I went out and got people in Al Borges and Charlie Waters, who I told specifically to adopt our terminology and not destroy the core of what took us to the Rose Bowl,” Bellotti explained. “But I also allowed them creativity within that framework to establish their own personalties both offensively and defensively, and I think we’ve done that.”

Bellotti said “80 percent” of the Ducks’ offense employs the same plays they ran last year.

“We’re just camouflaging them with shifting and motion that present some different looks for the defenses,” Bellotti explained. “And we’ve added a splitback attack that I had run previously at Chico State and that Al Borges had run extensively at Portland State and Boise.”

Defensively, the schemes have remained even more constant, Bellotti said.

“But within those, we brought in some new stunts, new (red)dogs and new blitzes that are all of Charlie’s making,” he added.

Bellotti’s decision to embrace tradition did not go unnoticed, or unappreciated, by his players, either.

“He did a good job of retaining a lot of the systems and rules that were already in place,” said junior tight end Josh Wilcox. “But another key is that we have a lot of guys back on this team who were leaders a year ago, so our attitude hasn’t changed much either.”

Fifteen starters, including all-conference running back Ricky Whittle and all-conference defensive back Alex Molden, returned this fall. They all know, now, what it takes to win a Pac-10 title.

And Bellotti, who has been there, too, is hoping they never forget.

“That was my challenge to the players and the coaching staff - that getting there was a great accomplishment, but that staying there is much more difficult,” Bellotti said. “We’ve got to be ready to defend this conference championship. People are going to play their best game against us.

“It’s a role we relish, but one we haven’t been in very often. I expect us to be good for a long time and I hope, in a sense, that we have turned the corner and that we don’t have a dropoff.”

No matter which coaches or players come and go.

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