The Pacific-10 Conference’s winningest coach during the last six years is going nowhere.
Oregon head football coach Mike Bellotti withdrew his name from consideration for the vacant coaching position at Ohio State Tuesday, announcing a renewed commitment to the Ducks and the future of the program.
While gaining national respectability, Bellotti, 50, has guided Oregon to its most successful era in program history since he took over the head coaching job in 1995. The Ducks recorded their first 10-win season in 2000, capped off by a 35-30 win against Texas in the Holiday Bowl and a No. 7 ranking in the final Associated Press poll.
Overall, Bellotti is 49-22 as the head coach.
Under Bellotti, the Ducks have won two straight bowl games (three overall), and made postseason appearances in five of his six years at the helm. No other Oregon coach has guided the team to more than one bowl victory.
After five years as the head coach at Chico State (Calif.), Bellotti became the Ducks’ offensive coordinator in 1989. That same year, Oregon snapped a 25-year drought and made a postseason appearance in the Independence Bowl, while setting single-season records for school scoring marks.
Bellotti has also guided an Oregon offense that has averaged more than 400 yards per game in each of the last five years.
“When you play a role in developing something special such as we have here, it becomes very difficult to ever consider leaving,” Bellotti said Tuesday in a released statement. “It is because of that feeling that I have contacted Ohio State to inform them that I am withdrawing my name from consideration for their head coaching vacancy.”
Bellotti and his family were in Columbus, Ohio, on Monday, touring the Ohio State campus with Buckeyes athletic director Andy Geiger.
Several reports said that Bellotti was the top candidate for the head coaching position at Ohio State, and that the Buckeyes were willing to pay upward of $2 million to their next coach. Last month, Bellotti agreed to a seven-year contract with Oregon that would keep him in Eugene through 2007.