Oregon Public Broadcasting

Outgoing University of Oregon athletic director Mike Bellotti officially leaves the Eugene campus Friday.

Bellott’s $2.3 million severance package raised eyebrows when it became public. Rob Manning reports on the mixed reviews that deal got Thursday.

UO’s president Richard Lariviere and long-time football coach, Mike Bellotti, say they were interested in parting ways, by early 2010.

Bellotti had already moved from head football coach to athletic director when Lariviere became president, last year. Lariviere was alarmed when he learned that there was not a written contract with Bellotti.

Richard Lariviere: “All I can tell you is that I’m outraged that it happened. And shocked, frankly, that it happened. But it did, we’ve fixed it, and it’s time to move on.”

But before moving on, the University System and Attorney General wanted to see how Lariviere and the UO "fixed” the dispute.

The Oregon University System tackled policy questions: were any laws, rules, or polices broken? Were any public funds being spent on the $2.3 million settlement? And how did UO’s conduct square with practices around the country? 

Paul Kelly chairs Oregon’s board of higher education. He double-checked one of his key concerns with the state university systems’ auditor at the board’s meeting this morning.

Paul Kelly: “You’ve confirmed that no state general fund money, tuition moneys, will go to the payment of Coach Bellotti’s severance agreement, and that was a key part of the charge.”

Kelly acknowledged that the state board needs to tighten oversight of contracts and athletic programs. But he says the UO was too loose, as well.

Paul Kelly: “There are some policies and rules that have been in place that are probably deficient in terms of clarity and probably in scope that we are going to address – and in any event some of those polices in place weren’t followed as it relates to this matter.”

Board of Higher Education members voted unanimously to accept their auditor’s recommendations – to increase oversight of athletics and to ensure the timely completion of written contracts.

The Attorney General also reviewed the agreement to see if any laws had been broken and to look at the legal advice the university got.

The AG’s chief of staff, Keith Dubanevich, summarized those findings to the board of higher ed this morning, too.

Keith Dubanevich: “We found that there were indeed deficiencies in the legal services that were provided to the University of Oregon. But as the president indicated, we believed that there was no illegal conduct whatsoever.”

The Attorney General’s four-page report concluded that the university wound up negotiating with Mike Bellotti at a disadvantage for one distinct reason.

Keith Dubanevich: “Obviously the primary problem was the failure to put the terms of an agreement into writing that everyone was well aware of.”

The AG’s report concluded that the legal risk created by the absence of a written contract made the two-point-three million-dollar settlement “not unreasonable.”

At least some of the blame falls on the shoulders of Melinda Grier. She was the university’s legal counsel throughout this period.

The AG’s review found that Grier had asked repeatedly for information necessary to draw up a contract, but never got it.

At the time, Grier was also a Special Assistant Attorney General with the Department of Justice. But she never told the DOJ about her problems getting a contract signed with the athletic director.

The AG review suggests she should have – and she should have tried harder to get the contract done.

UO president Richard Lariviere has since reassigned Melinda Grier to the law school.