It’s been a month since the Ducks lost offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig to Utah, but it seems they have now found their guy as former Brigham Young head coach Gary Crowton has been anointed Oregon’s new offensive coordinator, Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said Tuesday.
Crowton, who will also serve as the Ducks’ quarterbacks coach, led the Cougars to a 26-23 record during his four-year tenure at Brigham Young and captured a Mountain West Conference championship in 2001. In that same 2001 season, he maneuvered BYU to a 12-2 record and created an offense that both led the nation in total offense — with 542.9 yards per game — and scoring, averaging 46.8 points per game.
“I’m excited for the opportunity to join a program as well established and with the reputation of the University of Oregon,” Crowton said. “It’s an honor from me to work with Coach Bellotti, and I look forward to the challenges of working with the players, coaches and administrators already in place.”
Before BYU, Crowton was the offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears in the National Football League for two years (1999-2000). In 1999, Crowton helped the Bears set franchise highs in passing with 4,136 yards, placing them third in the NFL in passing. That team would finish eighth in the league in total offense.
The Orem, Utah, native was head coach of Louisiana Tech before he joined the Bears. During his final season with the Bulldogs, his team passed for a nation-leading 432.1 yards per game and was second in the nation in total offense, averaging 542.0 yards per game. Louisiana Tech went on to score over 50 points in eight of its 12 games that season. Overall, in three seasons at Louisiana Tech Crowton recorded a 21-13 record.
Crowton has been brought in to help revitalize Oregon’s offense. The Ducks fell to sixth place in the Pacific-10 Conference in scoring and passing yards per game and fifth in total offense, much lower rankings than Oregon has been accustomed to in recent years.
Bellotti is confident that Crowton has the credentials and the skills to help turn the offense around.
“He’s been an excellent football coach, both as a head coach and an offensive coordinator at the Division I level and in the National Football League,” Bellotti said. “He knows how to make quarterbacks successful, he’s very innovative and creative within the offensive structure and his philosophy fits well with mine.”
Crowton’s ability to master different styles of offense also seemed to attract Bellotti’s attention.
“I like the way he presents his ideas and concepts,” Bellotti said. “And the fact that he has experience with both two-back and one-back offenses, including option and spread attacks. I think he is a perfect fit for what we want to do in the future with our personnel and where we want to go with this offense.”

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