Oregon, UCLA: A coaching soap opera
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UCLA and Oregon will have lots to settle on the football field Saturday.
The fans, though, will be left with a never-ending debate.
Oregon fans to UCLA: ‘We hate your coach. Nike hates him too.’
UCLA fans to Oregon: ‘Back at you, in powder blue spades.’
Start on the UCLA side of the field. There was no secret that those in the Bruins chain of command, right up to the very top, coveted Ducks Coach Mike Bellotti last December. Well, it was a secret, then it leaked. A team of UCLA movers and shakers flew north to meet with Bellotti.
When word got out, a statement form Bellotti was posted on the Oregon athletic department website, which threw Bruins Athletic Director Dan Guerrero under the wheels of the private jet he was using to criss-cross the country.
‘I was approached by them on several occasions and finally agreed to allow them to come to Eugene and speak with me,’ Bellotti had said.
‘Allowed them’ is the key phrase in a statement that finished with, ‘UCLA wanted to present to me a scenario that would offer all those things and asked if I would listen. That’s as far as it ever went. I never considered it an interview, merely an opportunity for them to provide me with some information and insights into their program. I have been, and continue to be, 100% committed to the University of Oregon and our pursuit of a national championship.’
Not to be outdone, Ducks can counter with a laundry list of insults from UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel, who ...
... as Colorado’s coach ran a fake punt with a 38-6 lead against Oregon late in the 1996 Cotton Bowl ...
... after the 1998 Aloha Bowl, won by Colorado, 51-43, said, ‘Scoreboard, baby,’ in response to Bellotti’s comment that the Ducks dominated the game.
But the blue chips really hit the fan in 2002, when Neuheisel, then the coach at Washington, criticized Oregon’s recruiting tactics.
To be fair, Neuheisel also questioned UCLA’s recruiting tactics in the same story.
Certainly, none of that will come up Saturday when the Bruins take the field at Autzen Stadium.
Meanwhile, below is what Neuheisel had to say about his rivalry with Oregon.
-- Chris Foster
Top photo: Coach Mike Bellotti runs off the field Saturday after his Oregon Ducks lost to USC. Credit: Kirby Lee / Image of Sport-US Presswire
