Mike Bellotti to Step Down as Head Coach of Oregon Ducks Football

Yesterday, the University of Oregon announced that Mike Bellotti is slated to take over as Athletic Director in Eugene, vacating his job as head coach of Oregon Ducks Football. It was also announced that when this occurs, Offensive Coordinator Chip Kelly will become the new head coach.

There has been no timeline set for when all of this will occur. This is all we know as of now.

One thing is for sure, Oregon made this decision to keep Chip Kelly working for the Ducks.

Kelly, who has been the offensive coordinator for the Ducks for the past two seasons, is a magician with the spread-option offense. When he called the plays for New Hampshire, they led Division 1-AA in offense.

With Oregon's recent 65-38 offensive slaughter of their hated rival Oregon State having just occurred, many programs have taken notice of Kelly as a possible candidate for their head coach.

It was widely known that Kelly was going to interview for the head coaching vacancy at Syracuse today, but because of yesterday's announcement, Kelly is saying that he will not talk with any other programs, that he is a Duck.

While the head coach vacancy at Syracuse may not be the most threatening, there is another vacancy at the University of Washington. Kelly would be walking into a perfect situation in Seattle. True, Washington has not been bowl-eligible since 2001, but the Huskies have one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in the Pac-10, Jake Locker.

A true dual-threat, Locker can hurt you in many different ways. He can throw the long ball and play pitch-and-catch with his receivers. He can scramble out of the pocket in a tight situation for big gains. He can deliver bone crushing blocks on fly sweeps. Locker is truly built for the spread-option offense. He is a fast, strong quarterback, who is built to take the plethora of hits that a quarterback takes in the offensive scheme.

For Kelly to walk into a program that runs the spread-option offense and has a very capable quarterback at the helm, it would be disastrous for Oregon. Granted, it would probably take longer than one season for Kelly to turn the Huskies into a bowl-eligible team, but his presence there would drastically change the balance of power in the Pacific Northwest.

This is the main reason why Kelly has been given the head coaching job at Oregon when Bellotti decides it's time to quit. Oregon needs Kelly to maintain the stability of their football program.

Now, the biggest question surrounding this breaking news is when the change will happen. Some are predicting that Kelly will take the reins after the Holiday Bowl. Others believe that Kelly will have to wait until the end of Bellotti's contract to become head coach.

Whatever the case, this move was made in the Ducks' best interest, as Kelly has blown competitors away with Oregon's high-octane offense the past two seasons.

One thing is for sure, no matter when Kelly becomes head coach, his presence on the coaching staff will always be a great thing—no matter what title he holds.

Once Kelly becomes head coach, he will have complete control of who he wants to run his football team. Will he stick with Nick Aliotti at defensive coordinator? This question, and many more will be answered in due time.

Until then, sit tight, Duck fans. We have many things that deserve praise, and nothing that deserves complaints.