Oregon Football: Power Ranking All the Coaches in School History
Oregon football may be coming off a very disappointing loss to Auburn in the BCS Championship game, but that doesn't change the fact that the school's football program is very prestigious. The Ducks have a great team history that starts with some of it's many great head coaches.
Chip Kelly has done a great job so far with the Ducks. He has coached the team for 2 years and in those 2 the team was contending for national championships. Where does he rank in his young career among the head coaches in the history of Oregon football?
Find out by clicking...
#31: Richard Smith
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Richard Smith coached the Oregon Ducks in 1925 and in his short time coaching he led the team to it's worst winning percentage in school history.
With a record of 1-5-1, it's safe to say that Smith was a very forgettable coach for Oregon. Unfortunately for the school, I'm reminding them of this mistake right now.
Smith did poor enough to not even earn himself a picture on Google images.
#30: John Warren
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"Honest" John Warren was a very versatile man. In his life he coached basketball, baseball, track and of course, football. Perhaps lack of focus on one sport led him to be so unsuccessful coaching the Oregon Ducks football team in 1942.
Honest John led the Ducks to a dreadful 2-6 record and was what some in the sports world like to call a "one and done". Only he wasn't leaving school to be drafted to a professional sports league, he was not asked back as head coach.
He did end up leaving Oregon successfully as a head coach, leading the men's basketball team to a record of 87-76. Maybe John would do better on a list of basketball coaches, but this just isn't the place for him.
#29: Don Read
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There are some coaches in the history of Oregon who had mediocre seasons and only lasted one year. Don Read consistently did poorly as a head coach for Oregon over three years.
Don Read led Oregon to a record of 9-24 in his three years as head coach from 1974-1976. How he lasted three years with Oregon is beyond me.
Don was a pretty bad coach for the Ducks, but managed to find some success as a head coach in Montana. Unfortunately for him, there aren't too many people there who will appreciate what he has done. The Oregon faithful, however, never forgets.
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#28: Dick Enright
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From 1972-1973, Dick Enright led the way for the Oregon Ducks. In his time as the head coach at the University of Oregon, Enright led the team to a record of 6-16. Ouch!
Enright was signed to a five year deal as the head coach of Oregon. So if you do the math, you'd see that Dick did a bad enough job with the team to cause them to buy him out.
Like our good friend, Richard Smith, nobody wanted to get a snap shot of Enright while he was losing games for the Ducks.
#27: Cal Young
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"Iron" Cal Young was a warrior of a head coach for the Oregon Ducks. Cal coached the Ducks for incredibly durable four consecutive games.
In Young's four games, Oregon had a record of 1-2-1. He may not have lasted long, but that .375 win percentage looks a lot better than some of the earlier ones.
At this point is it safe to say that Oregon football coaches aren't into "photo-bombing"?
#26: Joe Smith
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Like Cal Young, Joe Smith didn't last very long with the Ducks but we have reached a head coach with a a winning percentage of .500.
With a record of 1-1, Joe Smith has cemented himself as the 6th worst head coach in Oregon football history. Not bad for only standing on the sidelines for a couple of games.
#25: J. F. Frick
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What the frick is better than 1-1? How about J. F. Frick's stint as head coach of Oregon in 1896?
Frick led Oregon to a record of 2-1. Which is one better than Joe Smith's 1-1 record as head coach of the Ducks.
#24: Louis Pinkham
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In 1912, Louis Pinkham called the shots for the Oregon Ducks.
With a record of 3-4 and a winning percentage lower than the previous two guys I felt that the few extra games he played gave him an edge.
#23: R. S. Smith
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Only a few more coaches with losing records and short coaching spans before we get to some real coaches. Sorry R. S. Smith, I group you with people I don't consider coaches. Fortunately you lasted a little longer and did a little bit better than the last couple of guys.
Smith led the Oregon Ducks to a record of 6-8-1 in 1904. This record earns him a spot higher than the other 7 guys, but does not earn him a picture.
#22: Lawrence Kaarsberg
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Just about done with losing records for a while, and we find ourselves with Oregon head coach, Lawrence Kaarsberg. Kaarsberg coached the team in 1900.
Lawrence led the Ducks to a record of 3-3-1. Nothing special, but in a short period of time to not have a losing record seems better than the guys listed before him. Again there were no pictures available for Lawrence Kaarsberg, but if any of you have interest in researching "Kangaroo" Pete Kaarsberg there should be some stuff there for you.
#21: Joe Maddock
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In 1924, Joe Maddock took the title of head coach for the Oregon Ducks and coached the team to a record above .500. This earns him a spot away from the bottom of the power rankings.
In his season as head coach, Maddock led the team to a record of 4-3-2. Not great, but not bad which is why he deserves to be somewhere in the middle of the list.
#20: Bruce Shorts
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Bruce Shorts was a very unique person. Not just because he's the first coach in a few slides to have a picture, but because he was also a successful lawyer. Shorts coached Oregon in 1905.
In that one season with Oregon, Bruce Shorts posted a record of 4-2-2 as the head coach of the Ducks. Not bad...not bad at all.
#19: Marion Dolph
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Marion Dolph is yet again a coach who couldn't reach a tenure, but seemed to have done a decent job with Oregon.
Dolph posted a record of 3-1-3 in 1902 as the head coach of the Ducks. These lack of pictures are really starting to irritate me...
#18: Tex Oliver
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Tex Oliver, oddly enough, coached Oregon twice with a break in between each time he coached. Both times he was under .500, but must have been doing something right if they wanted him back again.
From 1938-1941, Oliver coached the Ducks to a record of 16-18-2 . He then again coached the Ducks from 1945-1946 to a record of 7-10-1.
He may have been under .500, but he coached them for a couple of years and they liked what he was doing for the program.
#17: Frank Simpson
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From 1898-1899, Frank Simpson was in charge of the Oregon Ducks and despite having a short time period for the Ducks, he did a decent job as head coach.
In his one season as head coach for Oregon, Simpson led the team to a record of 6-3-1. He also went on to have an undefeated season as a head coach, but that was at California...not Oregon.
#16: Bill Warner
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Bill Warner coached the Oregon Ducks from 1910-1911. He did a pretty solid job in his time as coach and led the team to good record.
The Ducks had a record of 7-3 in those years under Warner and that did him a good enough job to get him away from the bottom of the list.
#15: Robert Forbes
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Robert Forbes was the head coach of Oregon football from 1908 to 1909 and he did a very good job in that time period.
Forbes led the Ducks to a record of 8-4 in his time as coach and for that he barely slips into the upper half of the coaches in the history of Oregon football.
#14: Gordon Frost
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Gordon Frost was one of the more successful coaches for Oregon in his one year span coaching the team. Frost was the head coach in 1907.
In Gordon Frost's one season as head coach the Ducks had a record of 5-1. That's the highest winning percentage of anybody so far, so clearly we're getting to the good stuff.
#13: Warren W. Smith
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Warren W. Smith is another head coach who coached the Ducks twice after having a season in between where there was another coach. Warren coached Oregon in 1901 and 1903 and in both seasons he had winning records.
In 1901, Warren led Oregon to a record of 7-6-1 and then a record of 4-2-1 in 1903.
Winning records in 2 separate seasons is an upgrade over the guys listed above him, I'd say.
#12: Percy Benson
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One season wonder, perfection and excellence. Three things you might hear when somebody describes what Percy Benson did for the Oregon Ducks in his one season as coach in 1895.
"Mr. Perfect" led the Oregon Ducks to a record of 4-0 in his one year as coach. Had he stuck around for a while more, he would be much higher on this list.
#11: Jerry Frei
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One of the bigger names in Jerry Frei finds himself in this spot in the power rankings. Frei meant a lot to the football program in Oregon, but unfortunately the amount of time he put in resulted in a losing record. Despite losing, he did however deserve a spot higher on this list for what he did for the program.
From 1967-1971, the Ducks went 22-29-2 under Coach Frei. Frei was very well respected by the fans of Oregon and when he resigned they showed their support for him. He never had a good relationship with the school, but people liked him for some of the things he did.
He coached a few NFL players and coached one of the most famous games in Oregon history vs. UCLA.
#10: Jim Aiken
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Just edging out Jerry Frei in the power rankings was head coach, Jim Aiken. Aiken was a football player and coached both basketball and football in his life.
Aiken coached the Ducks for three years from 1947-1950 and lead Oregon to a record of 21-20. A winning record over a three year span is impressive in comparison to what the other coaches were able to do for the football program.
#9: John McEwan
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From 1926-1929, Oregon Football was coached by John McEwan. And he did a very good job with the program.
In his three season, McEwan led the Oregon Ducks to a record of 20-13-2.
John McEwan did a good enough job as a head coach for both Army, Holy Cross and Oregon to get him a spot head coaching in the NFL for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
#8: Clarence Spears
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A lot of the coaches at Oregon who coached for a short period of time didn't do too well, Clarence Spears was not one of them. Spears coached the Oregon Ducks for two seasons and did a fantastic job.
Running the show for the Ducks, Spears had the team playing great football with a record of 13-4-2. A winning percentage of .737 in multiple seasons puts him up there with some of the great Oregon coaches.
#7: Charles A. Huntington
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Charles A. "Shy" Huntington was the head coach for Oregon from 1918-1923. Five seasons of winning football puts him high up on these power rankings.
Huntington was a former quarterback and also coached baseball and basketball for the University of Oregon.
In his time as the coach for the Ducks, Huntington led the team to a record of 26-12-6. This easily puts him up there among the greats coaching Oregon.
#6: Prink Callison
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For five years, Oregon's football team was coached by Prink Callison. And for those five years, they played solid football and were very relevant.
From 1932-1937, Prink Callison coached the Ducks to a record of 33-23-2. A winning percentage of .586 over a span of five years. Longevity and decency? This coach finds himself high on the list of an upcoming football dynasty.
#5: Hugo Bezdek
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Of the coaches who took breaks and returned to coach again at Oregon, Hugo Bezdek took by far the longest and definitely the most meaningful.
Hugo Bezdek coached the Ducks to a record of 5-0-1 in 1906 and then returned in 1913 and coached the team till 1917 to a record of 25-10-3. That totals to 30-10-4 in his career coaching at Oregon.
Hugo was one of the best coaches to ever coach the Ducks and had the competition been better when he was coaching, I probably would have had him even higher in these power rankings. But for now, hats off to ya, Hugo! You hung in there and put aside a 7 year break to come back and continue your excellence coaching Oregon football.
By the way, Hugo is in the College Football Hall of Fame.
#4: Rich Brooks
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The next guy on the list may have had a losing record, but his impact on Oregon's football team lasted 17 years. From 1977 to 1994, Rich Brooks led the way for the Oregon Ducks and he did a very solid job coaching them.
Brooks led the Ducks to a record of 91-109-4. This may not jump out as a good record, but the guy stuck around for that long and coached that many games for a reason.
Brooks made a lasting impact on the team and in his time as Oregon's head coach, the fans of Oregon saw their team win a Pac-10 Championship and play in a Rose Bowl. Not bad for a program that had little success in its history.
#3: Chip Kelly
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Yes, Chip Kelly is a new name for some and is in the early stages of his career at the University of Oregon, but what he has done already is huge. College football is much more competitive now than it used to be and in two years with the school he has made his mark.
Kelly started coaching in 2009 and is still the coach currently and the Ducks have a record of 22-3 in his time at the school.
The team has lost in the Rose Bowl in one of his years as coach, losing by 9 points in that game and this year they just recently lost on a field goal as time expired in the BCS championship game. 9 point loss in a BCS game to a 3 point loss in a BCS championship game. The only improvement he can make at this point will be to win the national title, and for Kelly it seems like it's possible.
#2: Len Casanova
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I had to give Len Casanova the nod over Chip Kelly strictly due to experience. Casanova coached the Oregon Ducks for fifteen years and Kelly for only two, so it was too difficult to say that Kelly was a better coach when he hasn't proven himself over a long period of time yet.
Casanova also started the turnaround for Oregon football that made them relevant on the national stage. From 1951-1966, Casanova led his boys to a record of 82-73-8. He took over the team after a 1-9 season, so clearly the improvement was there.
His time coaching also saw the team lose in the Rose Bowl, but just getting there makes him one of the better coaches this team has ever had.
#1: Mike Bellotti
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And the number one head coach in the history of Oregon football is?...
Mike Bellotti.
Bellotti may never have won as many national championships as people hoped but the reason everybody in the country fears the green and yellow right now is because of him. Oregon football is now synonymous with winning and Bellotti is to thank for that.
Bellotti led the Ducks to a record of 116-55. A winning percentage of .678 from 1995-2008 will definitely earn him a spot at number one on this list.
The team won a BCS game under Bellotti in the Fiesta Bowl against Colorado in 2002 which put the team on the map as a powerhouse in college football.
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