Bellotti bails on UO

[DanOregon]

Mike Bellotti steps down as AD to join ESPN. Guess he thought he'd actually get some say on running the department.
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindducksbeat/2010/03/oregon_athletics_mike_bellotti.html

 

[Boom_70]

Maybe he was afraid that he was going to get mugged or robbed at gun point.

 

[micropolitan guy]

Nike and Phil Knight run that athletic department. Anyone who has the audacity to believe that the athletic department of a public university shouldn't run operated in that fashion is fired (Moos) or resigns less than a year after taking over (Bellotti).

Those who grovel to king Phil (Frohnmyer, Kilkenny) get along just fine.

Maybe Bellotti didn't want to be Knight's yes-man. If so, then good for him.

UO will make sure his successor knows to genuflect to Beaverton three times daily.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Crap. Sorry to see this happen.

Half the football team's been arrested and he just had to fire a basketball coach that was his colleague for what, 13 years? Can't imagine his job has been a lot of fun lately.

John Canzano is predicting ESPN for a year, then back coaching. I'd hate to see him coaching somewhere else, but I wish him luck.

 

[DanOregon]

I've always thought highly of Bellotti. Making him can Kent and then hand over the coaching search to Nike was classless.
It's not like ESPN hired him to replace Herbstreit or Corso - he's going to be just another guy in Bristol, behind Holtz and May, a third-liner at best. I'm thinking he'll be back on the sidelines somewhere (Colorado?) soon.

 

[zagoshe]

I've always thought highly of Bellotti. Making him can Kent and then hand over the coaching search to Nike was classless.
It's not like ESPN hired him to replace Herbstreit or Corso - he's going to be just another guy in Bristol, behind Holtz and May, a third-liner at best. I'm thinking he'll be back on the sidelines somewhere (Colorado?) soon.

Maybe the Holtz thing is over, seeing as he has become senile and an embarrassment in so many ways

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I dealt with him a handful of times. Always seemed like a pretty good guy.

 

[DanOregon]

The takeaway from the presser - he's leaving to save his soul. It's not like ESPN is desperate for coverage help for spring college football (especially when your "debut" is on ESPNU). He could have easily stayed on until things settled down in Eugene, but instead he gave the school the minimum two weeks notice.

 

[Boom_70]

ESPN really did not have a Spread guy on staff. Bellotti will add a lot.

A little sooner and he might have ended up at ND.

 

[murphyc]

I can hear Bill Moos laughing from here.
If WAZZU struggles again in football in 2010, I'm predicting Moos fires Wulff and hires Bellotti.
So UO has a football team camping out at jail, no men's basketball coach and now no AD. Yikes. The good news for applicants is if you don't get hired for one job, now you have a chance at another job. ;D

 

[murphyc]

Maybe the Holtz thing is over, seeing as he has become senile and an embarrassment in so many ways

Has become? That would imply that he wasn't at one point.

 

[Armchair_QB]

I can hear Bill Moos laughing from here.
If WAZZU struggles again in football in 2010, I'm predicting Moos fires Wulff and hires Bellotti.
So UO has a football team camping out at jail, no men's basketball coach and now no AD. Yikes. The good news for applicants is if you don't get hired for one job, now you have a chance at another job. ;D

Be funny as hell - and a giant FU to Oregon - to see Ernie Kent and Bellotti coaching at Wazzu in 2011.

 

[zagoshe]

The takeaway from the presser - he's leaving to save his soul. It's not like ESPN is desperate for coverage help for spring college football. He could have easily stayed on until things settled down in Eugene, but instead he gave the school the minimum two weeks notice.

Really? What is going on up there that is that bad?

It seems like the football team should be a top five team, Chip Kelly is a good coach - why would he bail on that ship now? I mean - I get it, the Nike thing - but are things really that haywire behind the scenes?

 

[ucacm]

The takeaway from the presser - he's leaving to save his soul. It's not like ESPN is desperate for coverage help for spring college football. He could have easily stayed on until things settled down in Eugene, but instead he gave the school the minimum two weeks notice.

Really? What is going on up there that is that bad?

It seems like the football team should be a top five team, Chip Kelly is a good coach - why would he bail on that ship now? I mean - I get it, the Nike thing - but are things really that haywire behind the scenes?

Top 5? Didn't they just suspend Masoli for the entire season (of course, we know what that could mean...)?

 

[zagoshe]

The takeaway from the presser - he's leaving to save his soul. It's not like ESPN is desperate for coverage help for spring college football. He could have easily stayed on until things settled down in Eugene, but instead he gave the school the minimum two weeks notice.

Really? What is going on up there that is that bad?

It seems like the football team should be a top five team, Chip Kelly is a good coach - why would he bail on that ship now? I mean - I get it, the Nike thing - but are things really that haywire behind the scenes?

Top 5? Didn't they just suspend Masoli for the entire season (of course, we know what that could mean...)?

I guess I didn't even think about that to be honest.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

The takeaway from the presser - he's leaving to save his soul. It's not like ESPN is desperate for coverage help for spring college football. He could have easily stayed on until things settled down in Eugene, but instead he gave the school the minimum two weeks notice.

Really? What is going on up there that is that bad?

It seems like the football team should be a top five team, Chip Kelly is a good coach - why would he bail on that ship now? I mean - I get it, the Nike thing - but are things really that haywire behind the scenes?

Top 5? Didn't they just suspend Masoli for the entire season (of course, we know what that could mean...)?

They were being picked 3rd or 4th in the nation a couple of months ago. Then the team imploded. Yeah, Masoli's suspended for a year. LaMichael James is only suspended for a game, so things could be worse.

The Ducks could be OK at QB - they've got Nate Costa, who was going to start ahead of Masoli before he got hurt two years ago, and a kid who redshirted last year who looks pretty damn good (in his one college appearance he played a half against Boise State in 2008 and put up 210 yards and 3 TDs). But without Masoli that ranking goes out the window.

And ucacm, don't look for another suspension to get shortened here. Masoli can redshirt the year. He'll miss the whole season.

Incredibly disappointing offseason. I expected them to kick Masoli out of school, and frankly he deserved it.

 

[DanOregon]

I realize UO owes Knight a ton - but with the football stadium expanded, the baseball program up and running and the new basketball arena completed - do they really need him that much any more? I've got to think a lot of the kowtowing was due to wanting his cash for the upgrades.

One other thing - Bellotti and Kent have been two of the most visible, if not the two most visible, people in the state of Oregon, sports, business, politics whatever for the last 15 years. Going to be really weird not having them around.

 

[ucacm]

I realize UO owes Knight a ton - but with the football stadium expanded, the baseball program up and running and the new basketball arena completed - do they really need him that much any more? I've got to think a lot of the kowtowing was due to wanting his cash for the upgrades.

It seems like all major conference college sports are a total arms race. There will always be a school that builds something new to show that they have the best facilities.

A good example, IMO, is the invention of the basketball practice facility. Really? I get the indoor football practice facility. But with hoops, why can't you just practice in a small gym or in the arena where you play?

I recently saw a clip on the local news of Arkansas' baseball coach, Dave Van Horn, saying the team desperately needed an indoor practice facility. There's always something.

 

[Armchair_QB]

I realize UO owes Knight a ton - but with the football stadium expanded, the baseball program up and running and the new basketball arena completed - do they really need him that much any more? I've got to think a lot of the kowtowing was due to wanting his cash for the upgrades.

It seems like all major conference college sports are a total arms race. There will always be a school that builds something new to show that they have the best facilities.

A good example, IMO, is the invention of the basketball practice facility. Really? I get the indoor football practice facility. But with hoops, why can't you just practice in a small gym or in the arena where you play?

I recently saw a clip on the local news of Arkansas' baseball coach, Dave Van Horn, saying the team desperately needed an indoor practice facility. There's always something.

The basketball thing makes sense because college arenas are used for events other than basketball. Plus you have men's & women's teams that have to share the court for practice and games.

And it's cheaper to run the HVAC/electric, etc. at a small practice gym instead of firing up the lights, etc. in a 15,000 seat arena just for a practice.

I can see the logic in having a separate practice gym.

 

[Smallpotatoes]

I realize UO owes Knight a ton - but with the football stadium expanded, the baseball program up and running and the new basketball arena completed - do they really need him that much any more? I've got to think a lot of the kowtowing was due to wanting his cash for the upgrades.

It seems like all major conference college sports are a total arms race. There will always be a school that builds something new to show that they have the best facilities.

A good example, IMO, is the invention of the basketball practice facility. Really? I get the indoor football practice facility. But with hoops, why can't you just practice in a small gym or in the arena where you play?

I recently saw a clip on the local news of Arkansas' baseball coach, Dave Van Horn, saying the team desperately needed an indoor practice facility. There's always something.

The basketball thing makes sense because college arenas are used for events other than basketball. Plus you have men's & women's teams that have to share the court for practice and games.

And it's cheaper to run the HVAC/electric, etc. at a small practice gym instead of firing up the lights, etc. in a 15,000 seat arena just for a practice.

I can see the logic in having a separate practice gym.

I know at UMass, the Mullin Center is run by a private management company and I remember hearing once that the team had to pay rent to practice in it.