Oregon Magazine

Cover

Pigskin Pete
Cheer Up, Duck Fans
Your Boys Will Win

By Fred Delkin

It's been a very cold winter for Webfoot fans, with the football team seeming to
disintegrate amidst a rash of criminal transgressions ... and now, former coach and current AD
Mike Bellotti has resigned to take a less stressful media position ... though not before firing
Oregon's winningest cage coach, Ernie Kent.

However, this writer believes this flurry of recent events may well prove beneficial for all lovers
of the Green & Yellow. Consider that current twice national champion Florida coach Urban
Meyer has endured no less than 27 player arrests in the past five years, Alabama's 12-0 coach
Nick Saban saw 10 player arrests in his first 18 months on the job, Penn State's perennial Big
Ten power rung up 46 arrests in the past six seasons and Ohio State 's Jim Tressel, who
outcoached the Ducks in a Rose Bowl victory, has had 14 players nailed in his 3 years on
the job.

So, it would seem when you recruit nationally and you aspire to the top 10 in national ranking,
you pay a certain price. Oregon has 18 (2010) starters returning and two experienced quarterbacks to replace Jeremiah Masoli's absence due to felonious escapades. Chip Kelly has shown his capability in crafting a powerful offense, his assistant coaches have a world of mentoring
experience at UO. UO President LaRiviere states he will replace Bellotti with someone with
major Division 1 experience, and in the meantime, will turn the hiring of a new cage coach to
interim AD Pat Kilkenny, who has already served in that capacity prior to Bellotti's appointment.

We hasten to note that Kilkenny is a good personal friend of Gonzaga hoops mentor Mark Few, a
native of the Eugene area. The new Matthew Knight Arena opens next season and represents a
strong lure for any proven basketball coach. The late Matthew's father, Phil, has funded Duck
facilities that will now rank at the top nationally in every collegiate athletic discipline. Good ol'
Autzen football stadium has been ranked by experts as one of the toughest places to play in all
the USA, and no college baseball program can boast a better venue than the Ducks' new
diamond. And need we mention that Phil Knight was a Duck distance runner and has devoted
attention and dollars to the track & field venue that has earned natioinal adulation for its staging
of Olympic-class events.

Fear not, Duck adherents...you have all the makings to continue to quack louder than the Aflac
mascot!