By Rob Moseley
A trip to the Happiest Place on Earth turned into an agonizing afternoon that ultimately led fifth-year Oregon wide receivers coach Dan Ferrigno to announce his resignation from the UO staff. Ferrigno, who coached the likes of Keenan Howry, Samie Parker and Demetrius Williams for the Ducks, was announced as the new receivers coach at California on Tuesday. He joins the staff of former UO offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford, whom he coached with at Oregon in 2001. Ferrigno also will be reunited with his wife, Shawna, and young daughter, Sophia, who have a house in Oakland. The 52-year-old San Francisco native met his wife during his first stint on the Cal staff, from 1996-99. "I just thought it was an opportunity I needed to take advantage of," Ferrigno said Tuesday evening. "These things don't come up in our business very often." The hiring was one of a series of moves announced by Cal on Tuesday, including the news that former Junction City High School and University of Oregon star Justin Wilcox was leaving to become the defensive coordinator at Boise State.
Ferrigno was hired without an interview after being offered the job Saturday. Tedford called Ferrigno that day, shortly after speaking with UO coach Mike Bellotti, Ferrigno said. The Cal head coach interrupted a trip to Disneyland by Ferrigno and his family, who had remained in southern California after Thursday's Holiday Bowl in San Diego. Ferrigno said he spent about four hours Saturday mulling the decision before calling Tedford to accept the offer. He returns to the school where he coached tight ends, receivers and special teams for four seasons, before spending one season at USC in 2000 prior to joining the staff at Oregon. "I think Cal is a better place than when I left there," Ferrigno said. "I know it is, just because of Jeff's influence and the things he's been able to do. They're more committed to football now than they were when I was there." Ferrigno said he initially had no intention of leaving Oregon following the loss to Oklahoma last week. Bellotti said on Friday that he didn't plan on any staff changes this offseason, though he acknowledged the added attention his assistants might receive in the wake of the Ducks' 10-2 season. Ferrigno leaves a tight-knit UO staff. He could often be seen with defensive backs coach John Neal on pre-practice runs around Pre's Trail near Autzen Stadium. "Coach Bellotti does an unbelievable job of keeping this staff together and making it fun to work at Oregon," Ferrigno said. "I'm going to miss Oregon. But I'm also looking forward very much."
Bellotti said he will immediately begin a "national search" for a qualified coach and recruiter. Ferrigno said he was responsible for four recruits already committed to Oregon, and Bellotti said any others under Ferrigno's watch were shifted to other assistants, and assured that Ferrigno's departure was mainly due to personal reasons. "I'm happy for him in the regard that he and his family can be together," Bellotti said. "That's a very difficult situation he's been coaching under for five years, especially with a young child.
"I think this is a great opportunity for him to be there. It made sense to me." Ferrigno replaces former UO recruiting coordinator Eric Kiesau, who left Cal after four seasons as receivers coach to coordinate the passing game at Colorado under recently hired head coach Dan Hawkins, formerly of Boise State. The replacement for Wilcox as linebackers coach will be Bob Foster, the UO defensive coordinator in 1998-99 and a former Cal assistant under Tedford.
Wilcox, 29, was the Class 3A player of the year at Junction City in 1994, and he spent five years with the Ducks as a defensive back. He returns to the school where he coached linebackers from 2001-02 before spending the last three seasons coaching the same unit at Cal. Wilcox had no intention of making a change this offseason, and was on vacation when contacted about the Boise State job. He joins the staff of new Boise State coach Chris Petersen, who was the receivers coach at Oregon during Wilcox's playing days, and who joined the staff in Boise as offensive coordinator the same year Wilcox served as a graduate assistant coach there, in 2000. "I've always had a ton of respect for him, and enjoyed being around him," Wilcox said. "He's such a great guy. When the chance to work for him came up, it was too good of a situation to pass up. "The hardest thing about this whole thing is leaving a good situation (at Cal). It's not like you're trying to get out of anywhere. I was in a great situation, working with great people, and felt the program was going in the right direction." Wilcox said his defense will closely resemble those at both Oregon and Boise State. He worked at Cal under defensive coordinator Bob Gregory, who was Oregon's defensive backs coach from 1998-2000, the first two years of which Foster was the coordinator. He is also influenced by former Boise State defensive coordinator Ron Collins, who left with Hawkins to become coordinator at Colorado. "I think that's a big reason Pete thought of me," Wilcox said of Petersen. "It's not all a new installation. It's going to be hit the ground running. .... Honestly, at Oregon, Boise State and Cal, a lot of the verbiage is similar." Wilcox was a starting cornerback for Oregon in 1999, when he was named second-team all-Pac-10 after making the switch from free safety. He originally signed with the Ducks as a quarterback, the position he played in leading Junction City to the 1993 state title and the 1994 state semifinals.
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