Careers in Higher Education

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

In his first three years as head football coach of the University of Oregon, Mark Helfrich led the Ducks to wins in the Alamo Bowl and Rose Bowl and losses in another Alamo Bowl and the College Football National Championship game. A 4-8 record in the 2016 season was made more dismal by a loss to the Oregon State Beavers. An old sports adage is you can’t fire the players, so you fire the coach. They did.

What could be worse than losing your job right before Christmas? Don’t feel too sorry for Helfrich, though. Having agreed to a five-year, $17.5 million  extension in February 2015, he will collect $11.6 million after his dismissal.

And who knows what this season’s performance cost in reduced merchandise sales.

Helfrich’s predecessor, Chip Kelly, announced he was not interested in going back to Oregon, likely because his $6.5 million salary from whichever NFL team currently employs him is considerably more than the $3.5 million annual salary Helfrich received.

Which brings us to the U of O coach before Kelly, Mike Bellotti, who “retired” in 2010 walking away with $2.3 million severance pay, “to fulfill commitments made to Bellotti at the time of his appointment” as athletic director. Even better, although he went to work immediately with ESPN, Bellotti receives a pension of more than $500,000, adjusted annually, under the Oregon Public Retirement Program.

Who says a public school job is not remunerative?

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