Mike Bellotti decided that the best coach to replace the man who tutored Joey Harrington would be the man who tutored David Carr.
The Oregon football team filled its offensive coordinator vacancy Wednesday with the hiring of Andy Ludwig, who guided the Fresno State Bulldogs’ offense for the last four years.
“I see Oregon right now as a perennially top-10 team,” Ludwig said. “The offensive system at Oregon is respected nationwide. I’m excited. It’s a tremendous opportunity for me.”
Ludwig, 37, will also be the Ducks’ quarterbacks coach, which is a position he held at Fresno State. In his four years there, he helped guide Carr to become one of the best quarterbacks in the country, and played a big part in Fresno State’s 11-3 season in 2001.
Carr became just the sixth quarterback in NCAA history to pass for at least 4,000 yards and 40 touchdowns, and is viewed, along with Harrington, as a high draft choice in April’s NFL Draft.
“Dave and I had an excellent working relationship,” Ludwig said. “I really feel he made full use of his potential. I’m sure he and Joey are going to have very successful careers.”
The Oregon offensive coordinator position became open when Jeff Tedford accepted the California head coaching job in December. Tedford stayed to coach in the Fiesta Bowl and Bellotti began his search for a
replacement soon thereafter.
“He was one of the most
impressive quarterback coaches I have met or interviewed during the course of my head coaching career,” Bellotti said. “He was the overwhelming choice of our players who took part in the interview process. I think he is going to be excellent.”
Ludwig was in Eugene during the weekend to officially interview for the job and was told of his selection on Tuesday evening. He will stay in Fresno throughout this week to “take care of business at home” and said he will arrive in town sometime next week.
“I’m chomping at the bit to get up there,” said Ludwig, who played, graduated and coached at Portland State in the 1980s. “I can’t wait to dedicate my full attention at Oregon. Coach Bellotti did a lot of background checks and liked the things he saw at Fresno State.”
Coincidentally, Fresno State head coach Pat Hill last said goodbye to an offensive coordinator in 1997 when Tedford left the Bulldogs to join the Ducks. Ludwig, who also replaced Tedford in ’97, becomes the eighth assistant under Hill to leave.
Ludwig’s salary was reportedly $100,000 last year while Tedford made $175,000 with incentives. When Ludwig officially takes over for the Ducks after finalizing his contract, his annual base salary will be $135,000.
“It’s part of the business,” Hill told the Fresno Bee. “People in the Fresno State program are in big demand and that’s good. But until we get to the point where we can match dollars and other stuff, these things are going to happen.”
Ludwig sees a lot of similarities with Fresno State and Oregon’s programs and doesn’t expect to be surprised by any of the hype around the Ducks after experiencing the increased interest in the Bulldogs last season.
There is sure to be a lot of publicity surrounding Oregon’s second game of the season, on Sept. 7 at Autzen Stadium, when the Ducks host Fresno State.
“I’ve heard a lot about that in the last 48 hours or so,” Ludwig said.
But that’s in the future. He said the immediate focus needs to be making “the transition as smooth as possible for the players.”
“We want to hit the 2002 football season with full speed,” Ludwig said.