Oregon athletic director and former head football coach Mike Bellotti announced Friday morning that he will resign from his position, effective April 5, to become a college football analyst for ESPN.
“One of the toughest decisions in my life was about one year and one day ago, which was to walk away from the head football job at the University of Oregon,” he said. “The second-most difficult is today.
“I was offered on Monday an official contract from ESPN to join their college football broadcasting crew. It’s something that I have thought about, maybe aspired to over the years, and felt was something that could fit into my knowledge of football, my experience and passion for the game.”
At the 20-minute press conference, Bellotti announced that he would stay involved with both the hire of a new men’s basketball head coach and the appointment of an interim athletic director. He also announced the hiring of consulting firm SpencerStuart to facilitate the hiring of a men’s basketball head coach, though he did not specify details of the agreement. SpencerStuart was contracted to help the Pacific-10 Conference with the hire of a new commissioner last year; Larry Scott was officially named to the position on March 24, 2009.
Bellotti leaves the school for the first time since his hiring in 1989 as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Rich Brooks. He is the school’s winningest head football coach (116-55 overall), with six bowl victories in 12 appearances. His promotion to athletic director in July 2009 tied into a promotion of then offensive coordinator Chip Kelly to head coach. Bellotti took over for interim athletic director and prominent Oregon booster Pat Kilkenny.
He was questioned as to his comfort level with the role of athletic director but dismissed that notion, saying “I could have easily continued on this job.”
Bellotti wrestled with his emotions at multiple times during his introductory statement, stopping to catch himself before he continued.
“It is with somewhat of a feeling of unfinished business that I take this leave,” he said. “I think the University of Oregon deserves someone that really has a passion for being a college athletic director.
“You don’t spend 21 years somewhere and not have deep roots.”
The announcement comes four days after a formal press conference announcing the firing of Ernie Kent as men’s basketball coach, which Bellotti acknowledged Friday had indeed occurred on February 22. The timing also comes eight days after Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli and running back LaMichael James pled guilty to criminal charges from separate incidents. Masoli is suspended for the 2010 football season; James will miss the first game.
“Timing in life is everything,” Bellotti said. “This is not the most appropriate timing in my perception just because of the situations that have occurred. I am not running from anything at all; I’ve faced much more difficult situations as the football coach and weathered those. I was planning on weathering these storms also.”
Bellotti acknowledged that he and ESPN had been “talking for months” about the analyst position but that the network had sped up the timeline from an initial July date.
“It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he said.
Questions also arose about a possible move back into college coaching for Bellotti, with the analyst role serving as a gateway.
“You never say never, but no,” Bellotti said. “That’s not the reason, not the intent.
“I missed college football on Friday nights, Saturday, all day, and Sunday mornings. I did not miss it Monday through Thursday. I miss the camaraderie with the coaches.”
Until then, University president Richard Lariviere will conduct a formal search for a permanent athletic director, with Kilkenny expected to be heavily involved. Bellotti would not discuss the possibility of Kilkenny’s return to the athletic director position.
Bellotti was asked what qualities he would seek in a candidate for his now-former position.
“Great communication skills, great organizational skills, a business background, potentially a legal background,” he said. “In this day and age, this is a business. As such, we have to stand on our own.”
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