Rick Bay remembers being the athletic director at the University of Oregon when Rich Brooks was the head football coach. The budget was less than $7 million. He also remembers holding the same position at Ohio State when Urban Meyer was a football graduate assistant with what was then, one of the largest budgets at $25 million.
Bay, who may not be at Monday’s game in person, will be there in spirit as his two schools go head-to-head in the inaugural College Football Playoff title game.
Why is he not going to the game?
Because according to him, people have a “short memory.”
Recently inducted into the National Athletic Director Hall of Fame, Bay opted to wear Oregon colors to support the school that gave him his first job, but he’s also forever grateful for Ohio State giving him a memorable opportunity.
Simply put, Bay loves his Ducks and Buckeyes.
So as both teams fight for bragging rights in the historic matchup, Bay will remain neutral, showing his appreciation and pride for both schools. He took the time to speak with the Emerald Sunday.
What are your plans for the game?
I’ll just watch on TV quietly at home and I’m looking forward to it. I know I’ll enjoy it.
What were your initial thoughts when you found out Oregon was going to face Ohio State in the first-ever College Football Playoff title game?
For me that’s special because I was the athletic director at both places in a very different time in college football, college athletics. Keep in mind, when I became at Oregon in 1981, our entire athletic department budget was under $7 million and that pretty much today would barely cover probably/probably not cover the salary of the football coach. But that was the entire budget for athletics at Oregon in 1981 and it was also a time when even some of the faculty wanted out of the Pac-10. It wanted us to get into the Big Sky Conference because we weren’t winning in the Pac-10 at the time. Nike had just gone public a couple of years before and Phil Knight was contributing some money to the track program, but nothing like what has happened today. Then, three years later when I was at Ohio State, the first budget I inherited there was one of the highest budgets in the nation, but it was still only $25 million. So for me to see both these programs, although Ohio State was always strong long before I got there,it’s very interesting to see them both playing for the first College Football Playoff championship.
Does Oregon need this title win to, at all, validate themselves as a powerhouse program?
No, I don’t think it’s true at all. There’s been a mile of consistency for the last eight to 10 years, maybe even before then. Rich Brooks was my coach when I was there and people wanted me to fire Rich. We weren’t doing well in the early 80’s, but I knew he was a good coach, I just knew that we didn’t have any facilities or money to allow his excellence to show itself. At the end of his reign, he was going to the Rose Bowl, Mike Belotti taking over. I think Oregon is moving itself. They’ve been more consistent than almost any other school including Ohio State perhaps over the last seven or eight years or whatever it’s been.
Having said that, what would it mean for Oregon to win a title?
It’s a great accomplishment and it would be terrific for their program. Only one school can say it’s the national champion – I don’t really consider the national champion, I consider the College Football Playoff champion, the NCAA champion in every other sport is determined by a playoff that includes all the conference champions in a broader tournament. I don’t care what you call it, it’s a tremendous accomplishment and it will help no question. They can march into a living room of high school players anywhere and show their championship ring and that has an impact and it will be something the school will be proud of forever. It is important in that respect.
Who are you going to root for Monday night?
I’m neutral. I hope it’s a great game and I say that because I owe both schools. I owe my career in a way to Oregon because they gave me my first chance. I had never been an athletic director before Oregon hired me. When they hired me, I had no name, I had no resume to speak up, I’d been a successful wrestling coach at the University of Michigan, I’d work there in alumni administration, but not in athletic administration. I wanted to get into athletic administration and I happened to know a guy by the name of Tom Jernstedt, who worked for the NCAA and was an Oregon graduate. When Oregon was ready to hire an athletic director, they wanted to hire Tom Jernstedt, who was the No. 2 guy at the NCAA. Tom didn’t want the job and wanted to stay there, he recommended me, and on the strength of that recommendation and Oregon’s courage, they hired me and that finally gave me a profile to work with. Then I had the chance to go to Ohio State and Ohio State gave me the opportunity to work for the first time at the time, a big time school. Now, they’re both big time schools, but at the time, Ohio State was, Oregon wasn’t. I owe both schools a great deal and I root for both of them.
Follow Hayden Kim on Twitter @HayDayKim