Traitors of the state
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1. Rich Brooks
The debate rages on: Is the former Oregon State player and assistant coach a credit to both schools or the definition of a traitor? Certainly, he is known better as the long-time Ducks head coach that defined mediocrity. Through 18 seasons, he took the team to four bowl games, including the 1995 Rose Bowl, and amassed a 91-109-4 record. After a brief stop in the NFL, Brooks now serves as head coach at perennial SEC doormat Kentucky.
2. Jerry Pettibone
The man who tried to resurrect Oregon State football with the archaic wishbone formation served as the Beavers' head coach from 1991-96. When his daughter picked Oregon as her choice for secondary education, Pettibone picked the Ducks as his favorite team and became an Oregon season ticket-holder.
3. Neil Zoumboukos
Oregon's current assistant head coach has been with the Ducks since 1980, but prior to arriving at the UO, he served as Oregon State's offensive line coach for the 1979 season.
4. Mitch Barnhart
The former Oregon State director of athletics (1998-2002) may have brought Dennis Erickson to Corvallis, but in 1983 he was hired by UO to bring dollars to the athletic department. He served as regional director of the Duck Athletic Fund. Ironically, Barnhart now serves as AD at Kentucky, where he hired Rich Brooks as head football coach.
5. Nick Aliotti
The Ducks' defensive coordinator is in his second stint at Oregon, where he guided the "Gang Green" defense to the 1995 Rose Bowl. Aliotti returned to Eugene in 1999 to fill the same position. Maybe some day he'll return to Oregon State, where he coached the running backs from 1980-83.
6. Martin Mauer
The starting tight end on the Oregon State football team that obliterated Notre Dame in the 2001 Fiesta Bowl was ignored by the Ducks during the recruiting process, despite the fact that his father was a standout on the offensive line for Oregon. The Beavers were plenty happy to receive his services.
7. Kirk Yliniemi
The former standout Oregon State kicker was a walk-on at Oregon before leaving the Ducks to star for the Beavers.
8. Dan Ferrigno
He has had a successful run leading the Ducks' historically potent core of wide receivers since 2001. He wasn't as successful at Oregon State, where he coached running backs, linebackers, special teams and the secondary from 1987-95.
9. Tim Day
The Ducks have a big-play tight end in Tim Day, but when he signed a letter of intent to play for Oregon, it came as a surprise to former OSU head coach Dennis Erickson. Day had given the Beavers a non-binding verbal commitment to accept a scholarship to play at Oregon State.
10. Mike Parker
The Beavers' radio play-by-play man may have coined the term Beaver Nation, but he's a UO graduate and an admitted formerly rabid Duck fan. According to the Oregonian, Parker considers himself cleansed of any love of the green and yellow and a sworn Beaver Believer.
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