During an appearance on Portland radio today, former Oregon head football coach Mike Bellotti defended his hand-picked successor to take over the Ducks program.

(Kelly ex-boss, benefactor: ‘Chip said he’s done nothing wrong. I believe him’)

At a charity golf tournament in Bend, Oregon, Bellotti was asked by 750 The Game host Jay Allen about the current NCAA investigation into the Oregon football program’s recruiting practices. In response, the former Ducks coach said that he believed Kelly had done nothing wrong but that the UO program would eventually be hit by some manner of NCAA sanctions.

From the 750 The Game interview today:

Jay Allen: “You ran a very tight ship at Oregon and now the NCAA is taking a look at some things. Have you talked to Chip? What’s your take on what’s going on with that [NCAA investigation]?”

Mike Bellotti: “I have talked to Chip and I feel it’s more probably a bad business deal than a bad choice about how they do business. Chip feels that he’s done nothing wrong and I believe him in that regard. I don’t know what’s gone down with [Houston-based recruiting service operator] Will Lyles and all that.

“It’s a shame because it puts a black eye on everything. I think Oregon is still honestly a program that does it the right way.”

Sunday in a piece by John Canzano of the PORTLAND OREGONIAN, Oregon football coach Chip Kelly addressed the 2010 $25,000 payment made to Willie Lyles, the alleged “mentor” of Oregon football player Lache Seastrunk.

(Keep the “names and phone numbers.” Where’s the videos?)

From Canzano:

A purchase order obtained by The Oregonian details that Lyles billed them for “Game films, Highlight film” from 22 states. And if you ask Kelly what was provided he’ll tell you the Ducks received contact information for players — “names and phone numbers.” Basically, access.

The only thing listed on the invoice submitted by Lyles to Kelly was the aforementioned video.

So by saying that he received “names and phone numbers,” is Kelly telling us there are no videos? And if Oregon does soon produce some manner of video purportedly from Lyles, why didn’t Kelly, when he had the chance, just tell Canzano exactly what he had? (Confirming the videos now would do nothing to dissuade suspicion.)

If Oregon’s NCAA rules compliance department knew that the state of Oregon was paying Lyles $25,000 based on an invoice that wouldn’t deliver what it promised, is it unreasonable to think that compliance would not have signed off on the transaction?

While we’re at it, where are the “names and phone numbers” which Kelly paid $25,000 for? If the coach doesn’t soon reveal what he actually received from Lyles, we’ll know soon enough thanks to a Freedom of Information request submitted to the state school by Canzano.

So unlike the vast majority of NCAA rule disputes, we absolutely will get to the bottom of this so-called ‘compliance’ issue.

From Oregon’s reaction so far to media inquiries about what changed hands between the school and Lyles - and I’m not talking about what may end up being a meaningless invoice - would non-UO devotees be surprised if the school actually received next to nothing for its $25,000 in taxpayer funds?

Thanks to the extraordinary nature of what appears to be smoking gun evidence against the Ducks football program in its seeming lacking transaction with a notorious college football street agent, this case may also extend beyond the NCAA. Read more…

As reported here earlier today, former Oregon football coach Mike Bellotti is leaving the school as athletic director to get into television. ESPN has now confirmed Bellotti will be joining the network as a college football analyst.

Bellotti’s first broadcast assignment will be on ESPNU-TV as an analyst for the Auburn spring game on April 17. He will officially cease his duties as Oregon AD on April 5.

During his presser to make the announcement today, Bellotti said he had been talking to ESPN for months about a role at the network and he was offered a contract on Monday.  He said he would’ve preferred to stay on as Oregon AD and do a limited number of ESPN games, but the network thought that would present a conflict of interest.

With that in mind, it’s clear just how much Bellotti wanted to get into television.

Perhaps the Oregon football team’s off-field issues the past four months, including the year-long suspension of starting quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, also pushed Bellotti to speed up his departure from the school. Read more…

A billboard depicting eight current and former Oregon Ducks football players as clowns has recently gone up in downtown Eugene, Oregon. The local media is all over the display, which includes quarterback Jeremiah Masoli and running back LaMichael James.

The billboard is a response to the myriad off-field legal issues plaguing the program the last four months, with this likely only the beginning of the backlash. (Just wait until next year’s Civil War game between Oregon State and Oregon.)

But if Oregon Coach Chip Kelly had done the right thing and kicked Masoli off the team after his guilty plea to burglary last week, I highly doubt such ridicule would’ve been heaped on the team. Read more…

At 8:30 AM Friday morning, Oregon starting quarterback and current 2010 Heisman Trophy candidate Jeremiah Masoli will be arraigned on a charge of second degree burglary in courtroom 305 at Lane County Circuit Court in Eugene, Oregon.

Masoli, who has a criminal past that includes a guilty plea to multiple, strong-armed robberies as a juvenile in 2005, is accused of what the state of Oregon classifies as a Class C felony.

164.215 Burglary in the second degree: a person commits the crime of burglary in the second degree if the person enters or remains unlawfully in a building with intent to commit a crime therein.

(2) Burglary in the second degree is a Class C felony.

If convicted of the felony charge, in lieu of his criminal past, Masoli could face significant jail time.

Read more…

Earlier,  Adam Jacobi aftermathed the frosty midfield handshake between Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh last Saturday at The Coli. He noted that Ray Ratto of the SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE sourced Carroll querying Harbaugh, “What’s your deal?” Harbaugh then shot back the same.

Carroll and Harbaugh have yet to confirm or deny Ratto’s report, so in the meantime I’ll take a stab at the exchange. I prefer to cite the salutation to former Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti from Carroll as a possibility - at least the S.C. side of the field.

Or maybe I just wanted to link the video again. (NSFW after the jump.)

Read more…

• Charles Barkley gets bagged in Scottsdale for a DUI? That’s turrible.

• Speaking of Arizona, Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald is accused of raising his hand in anger against his ex-Raiderette baby mama.

• It’s just Ducky that Oregon teams are Blazing a trail of victories to close out 2008.

• Tonight in Vegas, Robbie Maddison plans to get higher than ever before.

Read more…

Hey, readers! Hope you’re enjoying this final day of 2008. And what better way to celebrate the end of the year than with another fantastical SbB Clever Caption Contest!

Today we grab a snapshot of Oregon coach Mike Bellotti, whose Ducks befowled Oklahoma State in the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl - thus giving Coach B the right to thrust up this trophy in triumph:

Seriously - how would you explain this image? Submit your suggestions into the comments section linked below. Winner will be announced in the end-of-the-day recap, with a chance to win for dinner for two with Shamu at the Sea World Plankton Grill.

Good luck and good writing! Let’s end this year with a big splash!

KPTV in Oregon today reports that Mike Bellotti is quitting today as football coach of the Univ. of Oregon. Ducks assistant Chip Kelly will take over head coaching duties.

(Hope the liquor cabinet is locked tonight in the Bellotti abode!)

Numerous reports out of the Pacific Northwest indicated that Bellotti today would announce he was stepping down, but not give a timetable. But KPTV reports the move will be made after this season.

UPDATE: Of course, KPTV had it wrong. Bellotti announced this afternoon that he has no timetable on the move. Read more…

Going on his 14th season as Oregon Ducks head coach, Mike Bellotti has built a nationally-respected football program. The Ducks are 112-55 under him, with 11 bowl appearances and a 12th on the way. He’s sent a slew of players to the NFL Draft, has been this close to playing for two national championships (the robbery in 2001 and Dennis Dixon’s knee injury last year), and has three 10-win seasons - the only three in school history.

But that’s just not good enough for OREGONIAN columnist John Canzano, who wrote in today’s paper that Bellotti’s time at the school has come and gone, and it’s time for a change. Keep in mind that Canzano is not exactly an unbiased observer: he was the writer who was harassed in the press box last season by Bellotti’s allegedly drunk wife about a column he wrote involving their son’s two DUIs.

Read more…