Mike Bellotti (2019) - Hall of Fame - University of Oregon Athletics

Mike Bellotti

Induction:
2019

When Mike Bellotti was elevated to head football coach at the University of Oregon on Feb. 13, 1995, few people could have envisioned the impact the former UC Davis honors student would have on a university that was coming off its first conference championship in 37 years. In the 14 seasons that followed, he became the Ducks’ winningest football coach of all time. Accumulating a 116-55 record (1995-2008), Bellotti led Oregon to winning records in 13 of his 14 campaigns as head coach. He guided the Ducks to 12 bowl appearances, including six victories - both accomplishments unsurpassed in program history. He became the first coach to lead Oregon to 10 wins in 2000, and followed that with what was then a school season-record 11 wins in 2001. That year, the Ducks closed out the schedule with a resounding 38-16 victory over No. 3 Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl to garner an all-time best No. 2 final national ranking. Including his six seasons as Oregon's offensive coordinator (1989-94), Bellotti has been a part of more than 24 percent of the University's 655 all-time victories in program history (155). He coached the Ducks to shares of two Pac-10 Conference championships (2000, 2001). Bellotti was a finalist for the 2001 Bear Bryant National Coach-of-the-Year award, while quarterback Joey Harrington was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. In Pac-12 annals, he remains 3rd on the list of all-time conference wins in league history (72) and 17th in career winning percentage (.626). Bellotti concluded a 36-year collegiate coaching career with a 10-3 mark and a Holiday Bowl triumph over Oklahoma State in a 2008 season that saw the Ducks shatter school marks for rushing yardage (3,641), total offense (6,303) and scoring (545). One of the more impressive footnotes about his coaching acumen is that the Ducks were 46-18 in games decided by a touchdown or less during Bellotti’s tenure. Off the field, he established the Bellotti Family Fund to benefit University of Oregon libraries, and serves as a national Vice President for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. He hosts the Mike Bellotti Golf Classic and Dinner Auction, which benefits the MDA. The Concord, Calif., native was inducted into the National Football Foundation’s College Football Hall of Fame in 2014. Bellotti has also been enshrined in the Ygnacio Valley High School Hall of Fame, the UC Davis Athletic Hall of Fame, the Northern California Athletic Hall of Fame and the State of Oregon Athletic Hall of Fame.