Bellotti Moves to Top of USC List

Another day on the carousel that is USC’s coaching search, and the Trojans appear to be grabbing for a new brass ring.

Oregon’s Mike Bellotti has emerged as a leading candidate for the opening. Bellotti is on a recruiting trip through California and sources said he was expected to meet with USC either Wednesday night or today.

Hiring the Ducks’ coach would be a coup. He has a 48-22 record at Eugene, is taking his team to its fifth bowl game in six seasons and is 3-1 against the Trojans.

USC declined to comment. Bellotti, who was in the San Francisco Bay Area on Wednesday morning, could not be reached.

While news of Bellotti heated up, talk about another candidate, Oregon State’s Dennis Erickson, persisted.

Erickson reportedly was not interested when USC recently approached him. But his name popped up again Wednesday when media reports in the Pacific Northwest said he had “rethought” his decision.

Oregon State officials continue to insist they will sign Erickson to a contract extension. Sources close to the coach also dismissed reports of his heading for USC, saying he and a close-knit group of assistants do not want to move to Los Angeles.

Though Erickson reportedly came to this decision earlier in the week, Oregon State Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart said it wasn’t until late Tuesday night that USC officials called to ask about speaking with Erickson.

Permission is considered a courtesy, but is not required in the college game.

“I’m not going to deny anybody permission to talk to Dennis,” Barnhart said.

Erickson is also linked to an opening at Arizona State. Bellotti, on the other hand, has been largely absent from speculation in this season of firing and hiring coaches.

The Oregon coach earns a base salary of $400,000 with bonuses and deferred payments that total as much as $700,000. USC Athletic Director Mike Garrett has said he is prepared to compete in a marketplace where top coaches earn $1 million a year.

People who know Bellotti said money would not be the only factor in any decision to leave.

Oregon has been steadily upgrading its program, building an indoor practice facility and making plans for an $85-million improvement that would add 12,000 seats and sky boxes to its Autzen Stadium.

With the 9-2 Ducks possibly headed to the Holiday Bowl, Athletic Director Bill Moos has also talked to Bellotti about extending his four-year rollover contract--and the contracts of his staff--at season’s end.

“Mike is somewhat of a hero up here,” Moos said.

The city of Eugene might figure into Bellotti’s thinking too.

“Especially because you have the quality of life with family and kids,” said Rich Brooks, an Atlanta Falcon assistant. Bellotti was his offensive coordinator when Brooks was the Oregon coach in the early 1990s.

“It’s a small town, you don’t have to fight the traffic,” Brooks said. “He’s had chances to leave before but hasn’t.”

Still, people at Oregon suspect USC could offer him twice as much as he is presently earning.

“You’ve got USC alums who are tired of being 5-6 or something like that,” said Rick Burton, director of the university’s Warsaw Sports Marketing Center. “You can have alums who say, ‘What’s it going to take to get a Mike Bellotti or a Dennis Erickson down here?’

“Then they write a check.”

Moos said he has a good relationship with Garrett and expects to hear from his fellow athletic director if USC is serious about Bellotti.

“Our friendship is such that he would give me a call,” Moos said.

If USC cannot attract Bellotti, the Trojans might turn their attention to Northwestern’s Randy Walker, who rebuilt a Wildcat program that was struggling after Gary Barnett left for Colorado.

Walker’s team was 3-8 in 1999 but went 8-3 and won a share of the Big Ten championship this season. He instituted a wide-open, one-back offense akin to the one employed by the St. Louis Rams.

Even better, with USC raising its academic standards in recent years, Walker is accustomed to coaching at a school that has high entrance requirements.

Northwestern officials said USC has not asked permission to speak with their coach. Walker, who has also been linked to an opening at North Carolina, issued a statement last week:

“I’m not interested in the coaching job at North Carolina or any other coaching position,” he said. “It is my intention to finish my coaching career at Northwestern.”

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Mike Bellotti File

* Coaching Career: JV assistant, receivers, UC Davis, 1973; JV offensive coordinator, UC Davis, 1974; JV head coach, varsity receivers, UC Davis, 1975-76; offensive coordinator, Cal State Hayward, 1977-78; offensive coordinator, Weber State, 1979; offensive coordinator, Cal State Hayward, 1980-83; head coach, Chico State (Division II), 1984-88; offensive coordinator, Oregon, 1989-94.

HEAD COACHING RECORD

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Year School Record Conf. 1984 Chico State 4-5-1 2-3-1 1985 Chico State 5-4-1 3-1-1 1986 Chico State 7-3-0 4-1-0 1987 Chico State 4-6-0 3-2-0 1988 Chico State 3-7-0 3-2-0 TOTAL Chico State 23-25-2 15-9-2 1995 Oregon 9-3-0 6-2-0 1996 Oregon 6-5-0 3-5-0 1997 Oregon 7-5-0 3-5-0 1998 Oregon 8-4-0 5-3-0 1999 Oregon 9-3-0 6-2-0 2000 Oregon 9-2-0 7-1-0 TOTAL Oregon 48-22-0 30-18-0

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