Oregon football all-time roster: Coaches, kickers and specialists
The Oregon Ducks have seen a lot of coaches come through the program in the past couple of decades. After the long-held tenures of guys like Len Casanova, Rich Brooks, and Mike Bellotti, the past decade has seen a total of five guys take the top spot on the organizational chart in Eugene.
That means there have been a lot of assistants to come through the building as well.
To continue our series of the all-time greatest teams in Oregon history, we take a look at some of the best head coaches and assistant coaches in Ducks’ history. Before we get to that, though, let’s take a quick look at some of the best specialists in school history as well.
Check out Ducks Wire’s all-time roster for offensive starters and backups
Check out Ducks Wire’s all-time roster for defensive starters and backups
Check out our other College Wire all-time lineups: Alabama / Arkansas / Auburn / Clemson / Colorado / Florida / Georgia / Iowa / LSU / Michigan / Nebraska / North Carolina / Ohio State / Oklahoma / Penn State / Rutgers / Tennessee / Texas / Texas A&M / USC / Wisconsin
Starting Kicker: Aidan Schneider
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The Ducks don’t have a long line of historic kickers, but Aiden Schneider (2014-2017) pretty easily takes the cake as the best of the best. With 47 total games played, Schneider was 51-for-60 on career FG attempts and added 212 career PATs in 215 attempts as well.
Backup Kicker: Jared Siegel
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As a member of the turn-of-the-century Oregon team that got the program on the right track, Jared Siegel (2001-2004) had 49 career field goals made in 69 attempts. He was also an impressive 176-for-181 in terms of PATs.
Starting Punter: Josh Bidwell
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A home-grown talent from Douglas County, Oregon, Josh Bidwell went on to become a first-team All-Pac-10 punter, earning second-team All-American honors as well in his career with the Ducks (1995-1998). Bidwell went on to be drafted by the Green Bay Packers and was named to the Pro Bowl in 2005.
Backup Punter: Tommy Thompson
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A four-year starter for the Ducks (1989-1993), Thompson was among the highest-ranked punters in the nation and sits high up on Oregon’s career punting list. Thompson went on to play for the San Francisco 49ers at the NFL level.
Starting Returner: Cliff Harris
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Arguably one of the most electric players in Oregon history, Cliff Harris was the heart and soul of Oregon’s run to the BCS Championship game in 2010. While he starred as a ball-hawking cornerback, Harris was also an adept punt and kick returner. In 2010 alone, Harris returned 29 punts for 546 yards and 4 touchdowns. He also had 9 total kick returns for 192 total yards.
Starting Returner: De'Anthony Thomas
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We cheated a bit here. The USA TODAY list called for a starting returner, and a backup returner. We made it two starting positions because it simply feels wrong to call De’Anthony Thomas a backup in anything. If Cliff Harris earns Oregon legendary status for his punt-returning ability, then DAT gets the same recognition for his kick-returning prowess. In his three-year career at Oregon (2011-2013), Thomas returned 73 kicks from 1,885 yards and 4 touchdowns. Arguably none were more famous than this TD on the opening kick of the 2013 Fiesta Bowl against Kansas State.
Starting Head Coach: Chip Kelly
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Chip Kelly’s run at Oregon was short, but nothing short of historic. He coached the Ducks to four BCS bowl games in his four years as head coach (2009-2012) and quite honestly changed the game of college football with his spread, blur offense attack. Under Kelly, the Ducks won both the 2012 Rose Bowl and 2013 Fiesta Bowl, while coming up just short in the 2011 BCS National Championship Game.
Named the Coach of the Year in 2010, Kelly later left the Ducks for a head coaching job with the Philadelphia Eagles after going 46-7 with Oregon.
Backup Head Coach: Mike Bellotti
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If it weren’t for Chip Kelly’s brief but spectacular run of success in the late 2000s, Mike Bellotti would be the easy answer for Oregon’s best coach of all time. Bellotti coached Oregon from 1995-2008 and is responsible for pulling the program out of a long slump that saw them as one of the bottom teams in the conference.
Bellotti won a pair of Pac-10 championships in 2000 and 2001, and led the Ducks to a Fiesta Bowl victory over Colorado as well. After finishing his career with a 116-55 record, Bellotti went on to become Oregon’s Athletic Director and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2014.
Starting Offensive Coordinator: Chip Kelly
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It may feel like cheating to put Chip Kelly as Oregon’s best coach of all time, and best offensive coordinator of all time, but he deserves it. His blur offense changed the game of college football by ramping up the tempo and running other teams off of the field.
Kelly came to Eugene as the OC in 2007 under Mike Bellotti, and the new era of Oregon football was off and running. Kelly helped turn QB Dennis Dixon into the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year and Heisman Trophy candidate while breaking nearly every record for offensive production in Oregon history.
Backup Offensive Coordinator: Mark Helfrich
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As the offensive coordinator under Chip Kelly, Helfrich was understandably buoyed by the team’s overall success. That doesn’t mean that he isn’t deserving of this honor, though. Helfrich, an Oregon boy from Coos Bay, helped shape Jeremiah Masoli, Darron Thomas, and Marcus Mariota as the quarterbacks’ coach and was a great protege to Kelly.
After Kelly left, Helfrich went on to take over as the head coach and led the Ducks to the inaugural College Football Playoff Championship Game in 2014.
Starting Defensive Coordinator: Nick Alliotti
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Nick Aliotti had a number of stints at Oregon, first as a graduate assistant in 1978, and then later as a linebackers and defensive backs coach from 1988-1994. Ultimately, Aliotti was Oregon’s defensive coordinator from 1999-2013, and is held in high regard in Duck football circles.
Backup Defensive Coordinator: Denny Schuler
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Originally a wide receiver at Oregon, Denny Schuler returned to Eugene as a defensive coordinator from 1986-1992. Schuler helped the Ducks reach three bowl games during his tenure, and coached 10 defensive backs who were drafted into the NFL.
Assistant Coach: Gary Campbell
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Gary Campbell’s name still rings out in the annals of Oregon Ducks history. After coaching from 1983-2016, Campbell was the longest-tenured coach in Ducks program history, and he oversaw an incredible 19 total running backs to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark during his tenure, including Derek Loville, Reuben Droughns, Onterrio Smith, Jonathan Stewart, LeGarrette Blount, LaMichael James, Kenjon Barner, and Royce Freeman, among many others.
Campbell still holds a close tie with the program and was seen at Oregon practice with Dan Lanning’s staff talking with players ahead of the 2022 season.
Assistant Coach: Steve Greatwood
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A man that was born and bred in Eugene, it makes sense that much of Steve Greatwood’s career was spent with the Ducks. The start of his coaching career came with Oregon from 1980-1994, and Greatwood returned to Eugene after a coaching stint in the NFL, leading the offensive and defensive lines from 2000-2016.
Assistant Coach: Mario Cristobal
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While he has a place on Oregon’s all-time head coaching list for his impressive run from 2018-2021 that saw two Pac-12 Championships for the Ducks, Cristobal needs to be recognized as a brilliant offensive line coach that helped turn around an Oregon program what was fledgling after the departure of Chip Kelly.
Cristobal came to Eugene in 2017 as the OL coach and was the center of a player-driven movement to make him the permanent head coach after Willie Taggart left for Florida State. His recruiting prowess helped Oregon return to a national power, and his Rose Bowl victory in 2020 was the crowning achievement for the Ducks during his time.
Cristobal left Eugene for his alma mater Miami Hurricanes after the 2021 season.
Assistant Coach: Scott Frost
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A former NFL player, Scott Frost came to Oregon under the Chip Kelly-era Ducks and worked as a wide receivers and quarterbacks coach. Frost was later promoted to offensive coordinator and helped lead the Ducks to the inaugural College Football Playoff in 2014. Frost later left to take the Central Florida head coaching job, and now is the HC for the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Assistant Coach: Don Pellum
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A former starting linebacker for the Rich Brooks-era Ducks back in the 1980s, Don Pellum is another coach who is as Oregon as it gets. Pellum coached a number of defensive positions during his time and was part of the Ducks’ coaching staff from 1985-2016, with a couple of years off in there for a brief administrative role at Cal.
Assistant Coach: Tom Osborne
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Tom Osborne was one of the long-tenured coaches to stay under the Mike Bellotti, Chip Kelly, and Mark Helfrich umbrellas, coaching the Ducks’ special teams and tight ends from 1995-2000, and again from 2007-2016.
Assistant Coach: Alex Mirabal
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A former high school teammate of Mario Cristobal, Alex Mirabal has gone wherever the former Oregon head coach goes. He came to Eugene to help Cristobal coach the offensive line, and later took over as the OL coach once Cristobal was promoted to HC. Mirabal followed Cristobal to Miami after the 2021 season.
Assistant Coach: Jim Radcliffe
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Jim Radcliffe often gets overlooked because he didn’t hold an on-field coaching position, but he was hired as the strength and conditioning coach in 1986 and held that position until 2017. In addition to overseeing a strength and conditioning program that was named one of the top 10 in the country in 2013 by Bleacher Report, Radcliffe was included on a list of the 65 most influential strength coaches of all time
