Oregon general counsel on way out of job in wake of Mike Bellotti scandal

Four sources confirmed to The Oregonian on Wednesday that University of Oregon President Richard Lariviere is searching for a successor to general counsel Melinda Grier, the attorney at the center of a controversy surrounding the Ducks athletic department. Paul Kelly Jr., a Portland attorney and president of the State Board of Higher Education, said he learned Wednesday that Lariviere had made the decision. The other sources asked to remain anonymous. The controversy in Eugene centers around UO’s handling of a $2.3 million compensation package for Mike Bellotti, outgoing athletic director. The university and Grier have come under fire for Bellotti’s lavish pay package. – Oregonian

Mike Bellotti’s $2.3 mil check a bonus or buyout? Oregon won’t say…

The University of Oregon released a letter from general counsel Melinda Grier on Wednesday night to further explain the $2.3 million the school will give to athletic director Mike Bellotti, who has resigned his position after nine months to take a job with ESPN. But the letter, written by Grier to George Pernsteiner, chancellor of the Oregon University System, and Paul Kelly Jr., president of the State Board of Higher Education, raises as many questions as it answers. She left unclear whether the $2.3 million payment is a severance package for an employee who is being terminated with time remaining, or a goodbye bonus for years of service to the university. – Oregonian

Oregon pays former coach Mike Bellotti $2.3 million

The $2.3 million severance payment from the University of Oregon to departing athletic director Mike Bellotti is unquestionably substantial, but why the UO settled on that exact figure may never be publicly known. The UO had no signed agreement with Bellotti on the terms of his employment or departure when he took over the job of athletic director last summer, yet the UO says it will pay the former football coach $2.3 million to fulfill unspecified “commitments” that were never put on paper. Bellotti negotiated the terms of his employment orally with UO President Richard Lariviere last July, when both of them were beginning their new jobs, a UO spokeswoman said. Those terms are not being made public. Less than nine months later, the two settled on the details of a deal allowing Bellotti to leave for a television job with the multi-million-dollar payout. Only the resignation agreement was committed to paper. That document states that the UO will pay Bellotti $2.3 million “to fulfill commitments made to Bellotti at the time of his employment as intercollegiate Athletics Director,” but it does not say what those commitments were. – Register-Guard

Did Mike Bellotti want to leave coaching?

The most interesting secondary news item from Mike Bellotti’s decision to leave Oregon for ESPN is be best explained in this column Saturday from George Schroeder of the Eugene Register-Guard. Not only will Bellotti get a $2.3 million golden parachute from Oregon, there’s also reason to retroactively wonder if he was “encouraged” a year ago to hand off the Ducks head football coaching job to Chip Kelly and move into the athletic director’s office… It’s likely Bellotti’s situation was nuanced. At the time he stepped aside for Kelly, recall that he said it was for family reasons, but he rejected the idea that he was burned out and he refused to say he was done with coaching. And then-athletic director Pat Kilkenny made no secret of his enthusiasm for Kelly. It’s not unreasonable to speculate that Bellotti might have planted a seed for the end of his tenure coaching the Ducks with higher-ups, and that seed sprouted into reality perhaps faster than he wanted it to. – ESPN.com

Chip Kelly, Jeremiah Masoli to meet next week

Oregon coach Chip Kelly said he does not know whether suspended quarterback Jeremiah Masoli will take part in spring practice, which begins next Tuesday. Masoli, suspended for the 2010 season after a second-degree burglary conviction earlier this month, has wrapped up the winter term and will meet with Kelly on Monday, March 29. The two will then “determine kind of where we are,” Kelly said. Kelly spoke Monday with local reporters about the state of his team going into spring practice after the tumultuous offseason. Much of the discussion, of course, centered about the most important and most newsworthy position on the field, but there will be other areas of interest in those 15 practice sessions. – Oregonian

Mike Bellotti leaving Oregon for ESPN

More than a strong whisper floating around that the 11:30 AM PST conference being held at Oregon today is Mike Bellotti stepping down as AD. The news comes on the heels of a string of tough news to break at Oregon over the last month. For some time most have wondered “if” not when Mike would step away and look for something else. He always seemed to have that passion to coach as he often paced the sidelines in the Fall. He would be walking away from a program that he most certainly had a big hand in building. Bellotti was one of the most respected and winningest coaches in Oregon history. The speculation right now is that he would move into TV with a role on ESPN as an analyst. Nothing is certain until a formal announcement is made. If he were to move into TV, it would make a later transition into coaching far easier, and far more likely. – DuckTerritory.com

A source has confirmed to The Oregonian that Ducks athletic director Mike Bellotti will step down this morning at a hastily arranged press conference to take a position with ESPN. – Oregonian

Anyone else think Mike Bellotti misses coaching?

Keep an eye on University of Oregon athletic director Mike Bellotti. The guy did good things as the Ducks football coach, and has had to deal with a couple of real headaches recently. Reliable source tells me Bellotti is going to make an announcement today, and it could have him stepping down as the AD. The troubles have been the kind of stuff that makes you long for coaching, I’m thinking. Bellotti had to oversee the recent cluster of activity around the football team, and also, the firing of a close colleague (basketball coach Ernie Kent). Felt during both of those cases that Bellotti must have been thinking about how wonderful it would be to simply worry about your own program, rather than clean up the messes in other ones… Bellotti has to be thinking, “I left the stresses of coaching for this?!?!?” I felt from the start that there was a possibility that Oregon could have Bellotti both as football coach Chip Kelly’s predecessor and successor. Is this just a break to catch his breath while Kelly coaches the Ducks for a good spell? Would Bellotti join Kelly as an assistant coach? Wouldn’t be shocked. I don’t think Kelly is going anywhere soon, and the setbacks inside the program have certainly hurt him nationally, but keep an eye on Bellotti as this all moves forward. – The Oregonian

New Washington State AD Bill Moos appeals to Cougs’ loyalty

Bill Moos said Wednesday he’d begin his new job with some restraint. But not without grand ambition. Moos, 59, was introduced as Washington State’s next athletic director at a campus news conference. He will take over no later than May 1. While the resuscitation of the Cougars’ renovation project for Martin Stadium appears the key priority, Moos said he’d begin by taking a wider view of possible facilities needs. Even before that, he wants to address a mindset, and in massaging that, he envisions capital improvements. “One thing I’m going to focus on is the culture,” he said. “I will never look at the program as underdogs. We’re not underdogs; we’re not going to use the term ‘Couging it.’ We’re going to set forth a path that leads to championships. “Cougars everywhere love their alma mater. They’re going to hear from me that that’s important. The common theme from me will be, ‘If you like the sermon, show it when the collection plate is passed around.’ ” – Seattle Times

Washington State makes offer to former Oregon AD Bill Moos

Washington State University president Elson Floyd offered the school’s vacant athletic director position to Bill Moos on Thursday afternoon. “He did extend the offer,” said Moos when reached by telephone. “My wife (Kendra) and I are going to consider it and, hopefully, we’ll have a response to president Floyd in the next few days.” Moos declined to go into specifics, saying he was honoring Floyd’s wishes. Earlier in the day, Floyd reiterated his plan to “make a fair offer” and emphasized his desire to bring Moos back to Washington State. – Spokesman-Review

UNLV wanted former Oregon AD Bill Moos

UNLV president Neal Smatresk’s first choice was former Oregon and Montana athletic director Bill Moos, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of confidentiality. An agreement with Moos broke down over a noncompete clause in the $2 million, 10-year buyout that the 58-year-old signed when he left Oregon in 2006, sources said. One source said UNLV and Oregon could have split the final $1.4 million of the buyout if Smatresk had agreed to do so. – Review-Journal

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