Bellotti's Legacy Remembered

Let me start out by stating I am extremely bias towards Mike Bellotti, and consequently that affects how I will be recapping his career in this piece. Call it a blind trust if you will. I have never questioned his decisions on the gridiron, and have always stated that he leaves on his terms. To the shock of many, I have mentioned Bellotti in the same breath as Bowden and Paterno, college football legends. Bellotti built Oregon from the ground up, and made them a major player nearly every year on the job. Much like Bowden and Paterno, Bellotti’s image is larger than that of your typical head coach; he is the face of University of Oregon Athletics

I was not around during the Rich Brooks era, but every Saturday in the fall my eyes lay witness to the sign in Autzen that reads “Rich Brooks Field”. I have no quarrel with this symbol, however if Oregon named their field after Brooks, then the whole Oregon athletic department should be named in Bellotti’s honor this fall. Bellotti’s tenure at Oregon is the reason there are such high expectations throughout the whole athletic department. In his tenure, Bellotti regularly turned in top 25 finishes (5 of which were #12 or higher), entertained nationally ranked recruits, expanded Autzen, and built strong relationships with boosters and blue collar fans alike. In the beginning critics said, “Washington owns the Northwest; you can’t win at a place like Oregon”. Bellotti wanted no part of that nonsense, he quickly changed the culture of Oregon athletics and in the process stole everything the once proud Huskies had, and brought it down I-5 to Eugene.

The next phase of the “Bellotti Legacy” leads him to the Athletic Director position. He is the perfect hire for this position, leading by example and continuously raising the bar higher than it was the previous year. It will certainly be a different position for the coach, but without a doubt he will be able to adapt. Bellotti faced numerous challenges when he took the job at Oregon, but he faced all of them head on because failure was not an option in his book. I look for Bellotti to have that same mentality as the AD, Bellotti knows you can win at Oregon, he proved that season after season going 116-55 in his time roaming the sidelines. I expect all athletic programs at Oregon to accept this stance, because anything less will be unacceptable under his reign. Oregon football took a back to seat to no one under Bellotti, his teams were entertaining, his coaching style innovating, and his ability to motivate players was incredible. Coach, thank you for what you did, as well as what you are about to do.