Updated July 1, 2008

One of the most successful football coaches in the history of the University of Oregon has turned his attention towards overseeing the entire operation of the school’s athletics department as of July 1, 2009. And if he is as productive in his new role as he was in his first 20 years of his Oregon tenure, there is little doubt the fortunes of the department will continue to flourish.

While the practice of elevating former coaches to athletics departments’ top spots is no longer the norm, the move to place Mike Bellotti in charge of one of the university’s most visible positions not only speaks volumes for his regard nationally among collegiate athletics circles but also his intuitive administrative sense and leadership skills.

Stepping aside as the Ducks’ winningest football coach ever (116-55) following 14 seasons at the helm, Bellotti guided the program to an unprecedented 12 post-season appearances and six bowl triumphs, shares of two Pacific-10 Conference titles, a school-record 11 wins and a No. 2 national ranking in 2001, eight or more victories in a single season nine times, as well as a Top-25 national finish on six occasions in the past 10 years.

Since first becoming a part of the Oregon football coaching staff as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Rich Brooks in 1989, the 36-year coaching veteran was instrumental in assembling close to 28 percent (155) of the school’s 558 all-time victories. He also retired from coaching as the third-winningest football mentor in conference history in regards to league wins (72-43) – trailing only UCLA’s Terry Donahue (98-51-5, 1976-95) and Washington’s Don James (97-38-2, 1975-92).

In addition to his 137-80-2 career collegiate ledger, the Northern California native became only the sixth football coach in Pac-10 Conference history to win 100 games at one school, while his Oregon winning percentage of 67.8 percent trails only Hugo Bezdek (72.7%—1906, 1913-17) among the school’s all-time mentors who have coached the Ducks a minimum of three seasons.

There is little question that his experience gained from elevating the Ducks’ football program into one of the most respected and successful in the country will serve him well as he tackles the economic challenges that lie ahead in collegiate athletics. In addition, he remains a strong proponent of maintaining the athletics department’s financial self-sustainability from the rest of the university.

The former UC Davis honors student and 1973 graduate, Bellotti (12-21-50) is in his second year as chairman of the NCAA Football Rules Committee in addition to having completed five years on the Board of Trustees for the American Football Coaches Association before stepping down as the association’s third vice president.

His respect among a variety of campus constituents also was evidenced by his selection to the University’s presidential transition team as Oregon welcomed incoming President Richard Lariviere on July 1, 2009, following Dave Frohnmayer’s 15 years as the UO leader.

The passions have always run much deeper than that of just football for the state’s most recognizable collegiate athletics figure who contributed to the elevation of football fortunes throughout the state. He has sponsored an annual charity golf tournament since 1995 – the Mike Bellotti Golf Classic – which raised a single-year record of $151,000 in 2008 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and has accumulated gross proceeds in excess of $1.1 million the past 15 years. In addition, he has personally donated more than $50,000 to the university’s library system since the establishment of the Bellotti Family Library Endowment Fund in 2002.

Bellotti certainly could not have scripted his farewell to the coaching ranks much better, beginning with a resounding 56-21 Sun Bowl win over South Florida to close the 2007 campaign. The momentum continued in 2008 as his final Oregon squad put together its fourth campaign of 10 or more wins in the decade, culminating in four-consecutive victories to end the season. Included was a dominating 65-38 triumph at Oregon State – the most points ever scored by either team in the 112 meetings between the intrastate rivals – followed by a 42-31 win over Oklahoma State in the Holiday Bowl.

The Ducks finished his final year with a 10-3 record and ranked ninth in the country in the USA Today (coaches) poll, while The Sporting News tabbed Bellotti as its Pac-10 Coach of the Year.

In 2008, Oregon shattered school marks for rushing yardage (3,641), total offense (6,303) and scoring (545) for the second year in a row, while the offense topped 60 points three times and scored 50 or more points on five occasions. The nation’s second-ranked rushing offense (280.1 avg.) led the league for the third year in a row, produced two 1,000-yard rushers for the second time in school history, and placed three runners among the top 10 in the Pac-10.

Bellotti coached the Ducks to a school-record 11-win season in 2001 as Oregon crushed Colorado, 38-16, in the Fiesta Bowl to finish with an all-time high national ranking of second in the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches polls. For his efforts, Bellotti was one of seven finalists for the Paul “Bear” Bryant College Football Coach of the Year Award.

In 2005, Oregon’s 10 wins represented the program’s greatest single-season turnaround in 77 years.

The former California State Chico head coach wasted little time leaving his mark on an Oregon program which snapped a 25-year postseason drought in his first season as an assistant in Eugene, with the Ducks surpassing all previous team scoring records in 1989. His initial six-year association with the university resulted in the establishment or equivalency of no less than 40 team and individual single-game and season UO records.

Born in Sacramento, Calif., he assumed control over a program which had just won its first undisputed Pacific-10 Conference title in school history and received its first Rose Bowl invitation in four decades. What resulted was Oregon’s first-year mentor coaching the team to a second-consecutive New Year’s Day appearance for the first time in school history as the Ducks equaled the previous season’s effort with a nine-win season and a Cotton Bowl appearance in 1995.

During his Oregon tenure, Bellotti has been influential in the development of five Pacific-10 all-conference quarterbacks—Bill Musgrave in 1990, Danny O’Neil in 1994 (who completed his career as the Rose Bowl co-MVP), Akili Smith in 1998 (Oregon’s first Pac-10 offensive player of the year ever), Joey Harrington in 2001 (Pac-10 offensive player of the year and a Heisman Trophy finalist) and Dennis Dixon in 2007 (Pac-10 offensive player of the year and Maxwell Award finalist).

Bellotti becomes the 11th individual to serve as the university’s director of athletics. He succeeds Leo Harris (1948-67), Len Casanova (1967-70), Norv Ritchey (1970-76), John Caine (1976-81), Rick Bay (1981-84), Bill Byrne (1984-92), Rich Brooks (1992-94), Dan Williams (1994-95), Bill Moos (1995-2007) and Pat Kilkenny (2007-09).

Mike (12-21-50) and his wife, Colleen, are the parents of three children; Luke, Keri and Sean.