MIKE BELLOTTI

Age:  58

School:  Oregon

Alma Mater:  UC Davis, 1973

Conference:  Pac 10

Salary:  $1,500,000

Official Bio:   www.coachbellotti.com

Years Coaching:  18

Career Record:  129 - 77 - 2   .620

Years at School:  13

Record at Oregon:  106 - 52   .671

2007 Record:  9 - 4  .692

2007 Cost per Win:  $117,122

Attorney/Agent: 

Contract:     

December 2008 Buyout:  $2,000,000

Coaches Hot Seat Analysis

In 2001 Mike Bellotti and Oregon won their last Pac-10 football title.  Also in 2001, Pete Carroll arrived at Southern Cal, and Mike Bellotti's world has been turned upside down since Carroll's arrival in the Pac-10 (Since 2002, Carroll is 70-8 (.897) and Bellotti is 46-29 (.613).  Oregon and Bellotti were a football program on the rise in 2001, playing in the Fiesta Bowl, and narrowly missing out on an opportunity to play in the bogus BCS championship game.  With a great stadium (Autzen Stadium), terrific fans, an athletic booster that is only surpassed by Oklahoma State's Boone Pickens (Nike's Phil Knight at Oregon), and now unrivaled football facilities, Oregon was supposed to be on top of the Pac-10 and challenging for National Championships by now.  Unfortunately, when you coach football on the west coast you live in the world of Pete Carroll, and Mike Bellotti now faces not only the daunting task of taking on the USC Trojans, but Jeff Tedford at Cal and Dennis Erickson at Arizona State are now striking for the top of the Pac-10 as well. 

All college football fans should at least once in their life travel to Eugene, Oregon in the fall and take in a football game at Autzen Stadium.  Arrive a day or two ahead of time and stay in downtown Eugene, and you will find an easy walk across the beautiful Willamette River to the football stadium.  Around Autzen Stadium you will find some of the most passionate football fans in the game, who seem to regard fun as a necessity for life.  On gameday you will find that Autzen is one of the loudest and toughest places to play in the country, and fans that are not leaving the stadium until the clock ticks to zero.  As you experience gameday at Oregon though, you will find something else hanging over the entire scene, and that is the undeniable presence of Oregon graduate and big athletic booster, the one and only Phil Knight.  Whatever one might think of Nike, or Phil Knight, it is hard to deny Knight's passion for the University of Oregon, and his interest in the Ducks football program.  It is easy to see Knight's influence, because there is not an item or thing that the Oregon football program needs or wants, because if they do need it, the money is there to acquire it.  Knight's presence is always there at Oregon, and from where we sit, we are starting to wonder how long Phil Knight is going to tolerate Southern Cal dominating the Pac-10 conference.  Knight has done his part by donating millions of dollars to Oregon athletics, and we have to believe that someone is eventually going to start to ask the question:  When will Oregon win another Pac-10 title?

Coaches Hot Seat Bottom Line

We predict that Mike Bellotti and Oregon will have a 6-6 record in 2008.   2008 poses a lot of problems for Bellotti and the Oregon football program, because the schedule is very demanding, and the pressure is really going to be on Bellotti for a big season.  The season opens with the Washington Huskies coming town, and just on sheer talent level there is no way Oregon should lose this football game.  Washington has been making small strides under Willingham, and there is the real possibility that Jake Locker could be a lot better in year two, and with what lies after the UW game, beating the Huskies is going to be a must for Oregon.  Utah State is next, which will be an easy win, but then comes a road trip into Big Ten country, Purdue in West Lafayette, Indiana.  Joe Tiller's teams have tailed off a little in recent years, but we believe they will find a way to beat Oregon at home, and that loss by Bellotti and the Ducks sets up one of the most interesting games of the year as Chris Peterson and Boise State comes calling at Autzen.  The Boise State game will be huge, because a lot of people believe that Oregon is one of the jobs that Chris Peterson would leave Boise State for, mainly because Peterson knows the possibilities in Eugene since he spent 6 years there as an assistant coach.  A lot of people, the Oregon AD, the fans, but most importantly Phil Knight will be watching this game closely, and a loss to Boise State at Autzen Stadium would mean that Mike Bellotti would be in a lot of trouble.  Next up is a trip to Washington State and their first year coach Paul Wulff, so the Ducks should find a way to win that game, but the next game is a trip to Los Angeles to play Pete Carroll and the Trojans.  As we see it, USC will handle the Ducks pretty easily, and that would leave Oregon with a record of 3-3 after 6 games.  The UCLA Bruins are up next at home, and you have to think that Norm Chow will have the Bruins offense up and running by week 7, so this could be a difficult game as well.  If Oregon can beat UCLA, then they are 4-3 as they face a trip to Tempe to play Dennis Erickson and the improving Arizona State Sun Devils.  We see a win by the Sun Devils in this game, and that leaves Oregon with a 4-4 record after 8 games, and the pressure will then really start to build on Bellotti to either finish strong or face the possibility of losing his job.  Cal is up next in Berkeley, and we see the Bears bouncing back in 2008, and that loss would leave Oregon at 4-5.  The pressure is really building on Bellotti now, but just when he and Oregon needed Stanford and Arizona to come calling at Autzen, here they come, and 2 wins are put up on the board for the Ducks.  Sitting at 6-5 heading into the Civil War game against Oregon State in Corvallis, the Oregon fans will be clamoring for a win against the Beavers, and a win will be a must for Bellotti to remain the head football coach at Oregon.  If Oregon State does beat Bellotti and Oregon and the Ducks end the season with a 6-6 record, a change will be made in Eugene, because with the amount of money they are spending on the football program at Oregon, 6-6 records are not acceptable. 

If Oregon does make a change in the head coaching position in 2008, it will be one of the most cherished jobs in the country.  Unlimited resources, great fans, unrivaled facilities equal a very attractive job, and Oregon will have their pick of coaches that will want the job very badly.

2008 Coaches Hot Seat Prediction:        6-6

Will Mike Bellotti be back for the 2009 season?       NO

 Possible Replacements:  Brian Kelly (Cincinnati), Bronco Mendenhall (BYU), Chris Peterson (Boise State), Dave Christensen (OC/Missouri), DeWayne Walker (DC/UCLA), Jeff Tedford (Cal), Jim Harbaugh (Stanford), Mike Leach (Texas Tech), Troy Calhoun (Air Force).