Chip Kelly will become head football coach at Oregon and Mike Bellotti will become director of athletics under a succession plan announced Tuesday, although there is no timetable set for the changeover.
University President Dave Frohnmayer, himself a member of a search committee looking for his own successor, announced the plan, one that will hinge on Bellotti’s decision to retire as head football coach sometime in the future.
Recruiting Tuesday in Phoenix, Ariz., Bellotti said in a teleconference, “I don’t have a timeline. I’m not going to coach for 20 years and I’m not going to coach for 10 years. Other than that I wouldn’t put any limits on it.”
In the immediate future, he said he will coach Oregon in its upcoming bowl game, which will most likely be the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 30 in San Diego, Calif.
Kelly has been the offensive coordinator at Oregon since 2007 and said he has no problem waiting to become the head coach of the No. 16 Ducks, which are coming off a 65-38 win in Saturday’s Civil War.
Kelly, 45, arrived in Eugene from the University of New Hampshire, where he coached for 13 years. Kelly, Frohnmayer and current athletic director Pat Kilkenny also participated in the teleconference.
“I really realized what a special place Oregon is and I really don’t want to go anywhere else,” he said, adding that he will not speak with any other schools in the future about possible job openings. “I’m a Duck.”
Kilkenny’s contract as athletic director expires June 30, but he will stay in the position until Bellotti’s decision comes. After that, he said he will stick around for another undetermined while as a consultant to Bellotti during the transition.
“If it means that we need to extend it for a period of time to get the outcome that we’re discussing today, I certainly think it’s worth the time and the effort,” Kilkenny said.
Kilkenny, who was hired on Feb. 14, 2006, said discussions around a succession plan for Kelly happened “probably in the last 10 days.”
On Friday the Web site Rivals.com announced a report that Kelly had an interview at Syracuse University for its vacant head coaching position. On Sunday evening, Bellotti said during his weekly teleconference he did not believe Kelly had an interview scheduled. Yesterday it became clear why he mentioned it.
“I think he’s one of the best, if not the best, offensive coordinator and offensive minds in the nation, and he was going to be in line for some head jobs, and I felt like in some point in line I wanted to keep him here,” Bellotti, 57, said.
He has good reason.
Kelly guided former quarterback Dennis Dixon to a near-Heisman Trophy season in 2007 until his season-ending knee injury occurred in November. The Ducks set a school record for rushing yards last season.
That record, as well as the school’s single-season record for points scored, was broken during the Civil War win last Saturday, directed by Jeremiah Masoli, a quarterback who was fifth on the depth chart during August.
Bellotti’s interest in the director of athletics job has been little secret since two years ago, when it was speculated he had an interest in the job before Kilkenny was hired.
“I think now there’s a point at which the rigors of coaching take a toll on you and your family,” Bellotti said. “I also feel a huge debt to the University of Oregon that I continually want to repay.
“It’s something that does intrigue me in terms of the leadership and mentorship of coaches, and still a direct hands-on approach with the players and the various athletes who represent our university.”
The longest-tenured head coach in the Pacific-10 Conference since he took over in 1995, Bellotti has a career record of 115-55. Only Washington’s Don James and UCLA’s Terry Donahue have more wins in-conference than Bellotti.
Bellotti emphasized his desire to still coach, saying, “I still feel that I have the energy and the desire. That has not gone away. It’s more that I think Chip is a special coach. What he’s done and accomplished here is amazing and I want that for Oregon in the future.”
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