Oregon Public Broadcasting

Mike Bellotti has a new job as of Wednesday.

The former head coach of the Oregon Ducks football team takes over as the school’s athletic director.

Being the athletics director of the U of O requires a deft touch. The founder of Nike - one of Oregon’s wealthiest men - Phil Knight is famously involved in the school’s sports decisions.

Another task for Bellotti will be instituting a new state law that encourages minority coaching candidates.

Oregon is the first state in the country to require that every public university interview a minority candidate for every open head coaching job.

Ethan Lindsey reports.

Half of the players in major college football nationwide are black.

And yet, just seven of the 120 head coaches are black.

In this state, neither the University of Oregon nor Oregon State have ever had a black head football coach.

And none of the smaller public colleges, like Portland State or Western Oregon, employ an African-American as a head football coach.

All involved say that disparity needs to change.

And Oregon lawmakers say they have come up with a way to make that change happen.

On football-crazed Saturdays in Eugene, Autzen Stadium is considered one of the loudest places in the entire country.

Or so says former head coach Mike Bellotti.

Mike Bellotti: “In fact, its actually been verified by decibel readings on the field. There was a reading of 137 taken, which is louder than if you were standing behind a jet airplane when it took off.”

On a summer day, it’s no so loud -- high-school football players practice on the field instead.

And yet, as quiet as it is here, the new state law has made Oregon the focus of the college football world right now.

The law is relatively straightforward: when a school, like Oregon, has a head coaching job opening, it must now interview a minority candidate.

The rule covers all of the state’s public universities. It applies to all college sports, not just football

And the law applies broadly to Asian-American, Hispanic, or any other minority candidates.

Richard Lapchick: “We’ve reached that historic moment and Oregon is the frontrunner.”

Richard Lapchick is the founder of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida.

Richard Lapchick: “What happens in college football, when an opening occurs for a football coach, the athletic director rarely goes into a search mode. And as 95% of our athletic directors are also white, if they are going to turn to somebody who is part of their background, it is too often going to be another white person."

And Oregon’s law is getting attention in other parts of the country. Normally, Alabama fans mock west coast football.

John Rogers: “It’s religion. Really. Football in the south is religion.”

Alabama Democrat Representative John Rogers has drafted a bill similar to Oregon’s that he will introduce in his state next year.

Rogers remembers sitting in the stands of a 1970 game between Southern Cal and an all-white Alabama team.

USC’s African-American running back, Sam Cunningham, ran over Alabama’s defense.

John Rogers: “From that point on, Alabama made it its business to go out and recruit black ballplayers. Once they see it can work and is successful, they have a different attitude about hiring black coaches.”

Pro football instituted a similar rule in 2003.

Afterwards, the NFL saw a surge of minority hires, including Mike Tomlin, the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Remember, he just won the Super Bowl.

College football, with its boosters and alumni networks, is seen as even more of an old boys club than pro football.

Take the University of Oregon.

Mike Bellotti, the former Ducks football coach, is white.

When he stepped down this year, then-offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, was hired to replace him without any outside interviews. Kelly is also white.

Then, Bellotti was hired as the school’s athletic director – also with no outside interviews.

That prompted many in the state to cry foul – and push for the law.

But not everybody is cheering. College sports governing bodies  says the change could lead to token interviews and false hope.

Others, like attorney Mitch Baker, say the law could be challenged in court. Baker appeared on Oregon Public Broadcasting’s ‘Think Out Loud’.

Mitch Baker: “In this case, we’re talking about a law that is discriminatory on its face. And when I say that, I don’t mean it in a bad way. I’m just saying, it does make a distinction based on race alone.”

Lawmakers did put in place two exceptions – one to require only that schools make ‘good faith’ efforts to find and interview minority candidates. And two, allowing ‘succession plans’ to continue.

The succession exemption would have allowed the Oregon Ducks coaching transition to go forward.

Bellotti says he supports the rule.

Mike Bellotti: “Anytime you can have an environment where you look at other alternatives, it can only help. If we had the rule in, we would have interviewed people. I still feel in my heart, Chip was the best person. Could we have found somebody else? Possibly. I am sure there are other people who say that there were better candidates for the athletic director position.”

The law establishes no penalties if schools fail to follow it.

But even so advocates say it represents a big step forward for college sports in the state – and possibly, the country.