Coach reborn on the Bayou

Fair Game

By kerry eggers

The Portland Tribune, Feb 1, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (5 Reader comments)

Leaving Oregon for LSU turned out to be a good move for offensive coordinator Gary Crowton — the Tigers’ national championship netted him three rings.

COURTESY OF STEVE FRANZ/LSU

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You think Gary Crowton is getting only one ring for his part in Louisiana State’s national football championship? Think again.

“We get three — a Southeast Conference championship ring and national championship rings for both polls,” says Crowton, the former University of Oregon offensive coordinator who served in that capacity with the Tigers this season. “They are great mementos to have when you look back at a coaching career.”

What a first season in Bayou country it was for Crowton, 50, who was the Ducks’ O-coordinator for the 2005 and ’06 seasons.

The Tigers went 12-2 — losing only triple-overtime thrillers to Kentucky (43-37) and Arkansas (50-48) — and knocked off top-ranked Ohio State 38-24 in the BCS title game at New Orleans.

“It validates the move (to LSU) and fulfills your dream as a coach, to win a national championship,” Crowton says. “That’s what you want to do wherever you’re at. For me, it was very satisfying to know all the hard work you put in paid off.”

Crowton says leaving Oregon and coach Mike Bellotti was “the hardest decision I’ve had to make” in his coaching career. And though there was some grumbling from fans after the Ducks’ 2006 season — with its 7-6 record, including a 38-8 loss to Brigham Young in the Las Vegas Bowl — Crowton says he felt no pressure to leave.

“Not at all,” he says. “Coach Bellotti was outstanding, really good to me. I really liked Oregon. My family liked it (in Eugene). They have outstanding coaches and players.

“When I left, (LSU coach Les Miles) offered me a lot of money. Coach Bellotti tried tremendously hard to keep me, tried to match the salary, wanted me to stay. It was a very difficult move.”

The Las Vegas Bowl loss to BYU — where he had served as head coach from 2001-04 — left an indelible imprint.

“I felt at that point in my career, I needed to get further away from BYU,” Crowton says. “It was a very awkward moment for me to bring our team in there to play (the Cougars) in the bowl game. Being Mormon and being that close (to Provo) … I wanted to get away from that for a few years.”

Another factor was a better chance to win a national title.

“My first year at Oregon, we were 10-1 and didn’t get into a BCS bowl, and I thought we deserved to,” Crowton says. “They’re going to get in there at some point, because Coach Bellotti does a great job.

“But (the Tigers) were 10-2 the previous season and ranked No. 3, and if you’re good (at LSU), you get in those bowls. When I made the move, that’s what I was thinking a little bit. And we got into the (BCS) bowl and played Ohio State — it worked.”

Which is the stronger conference, the Pac-10 or SEC?

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