Brooks finds ‘freedom’ in football retirement

Brooks finds ‘freedom’ in football retirement

By Bob Clark

The Register-Guard

Appeared in print: Sunday, Jun 27, 2010

The rewards of retirement for Rich Brooks come in simply scheduling his day.

Or not.

His appointment book is his to fill, or leave empty. There are no staff meetings to schedule, and no booster groups to meet with, nor fund-raising events to attend.

He can go fly fishing on the McKenzie River near his home if the urge strikes. He plays golf when he wants. He’ll turn on his computer to check investments or the latest college football rumors as the mood strikes, and for as long as he wants.

After more than four decades of coaching football, including stints as the head coach at Oregon and Kentucky and in between with the St. Louis Rams, the 68-year-old Brooks has moved on and isn’t looking back.

“It’s just a little more freedom,” Brooks said of his life since announcing earlier this year he had coached his final football game, at Kentucky or anywhere else, “I don’t think people really understand the time commitment of college football.

“It’s not something you can back away from and do part time or just do it and start taking more time off. It’s either all or nothing. I’ve given it all for quite a few years, so I figured it’s time to enjoy life while I still have the health to do it.”

Brooks and his wife, Karen, are back in their home that overlooks the McKenzie River for at least most of the summer. They’ve also kept a home in Lexington, Ky., and he said they’ll probably continue to rotate stays at both, “for the time being.”

The plan is to see some football games at Autzen Stadium and at Kentucky this fall. They still have numerous friends in both places, he has some business dealings back there and while Brooks said it’s his wife who “has gotten hooked” on all that goes with the horse racing season in Kentucky, it’s the former coach himself who has an investment in a thoroughbred — “about this much,” he said holding his thumb and index finger an inch apart.

Hey, there’s time for everything now, including those grandchildren, the oldest of whom the Brookses saw graduate from high school earlier this month.

Yes, there seem to be no regrets about retirement for Brooks. “I haven’t been through a football season yet,” he said. “That will be the telling point, but at this point, I’m totally at peace with my decision.”

As a college coach, Brooks will be remembered as one of the greatest of rebuilders for what he accomplished at Oregon and Kentucky. It came with some price, such as a 128-154-4 overall record as a college coach, but it wasn’t as if he was ever handed the reigns of a successful program and only had to maintain it.

“It’s crossed my mind, would I have had the success of the coaches who coach at those schools,” he said. “My record, I know, would have been a lot better than it is.”

Including his two years as the head coach of the NFL’s St. Louis Rams after leaving Oregon, Brooks said, “I did take satisfaction in the fact that each one of those jobs were better when I left than when I got there.”

Though his 18-season record at Oregon was 91-109-4, the better measure of him is that he took the Ducks to their first bowl game in 26 years and brought Oregon to its first Rose Bowl in 37 seasons. At Kentucky, he inherited a program on NCAA probation with severe scholarship limitations as a penalty, which greatly explains a 9-25 record his first three years. From there, Brooks went 30-21 his final four seasons, becoming the first Kentucky coach to reach four consecutive bowls and to win three in a row.

By comparison, the seven Kentucky coaches who preceded Brooks never once had more than two consecutive winning seasons.

“Rich Brooks changed the culture and the direction of the University of Kentucky football program,” UK president Lee Todd said upon Brooks’ retirement announcement. “The university is grateful for his impact on our program and for paving the way for future success.”

Brooks turned his Kentucky team over to offensive coordinator Joker Phillips, much as Mike Bellotti moved up from that position to replace Brooks in 1995.

If his tenure at both jobs thus ended similarly, there were real comparisons to how each job started for Brooks.

“Except when I went to Kentucky, they had a bigger fan base and they had better facilities and more wherewithal financially to do the job,” Brooks said. “To me, there was no reason they hadn’t had more success with those things in place.”

Now, Brooks said, the challenge for Kentucky is to emulate what Oregon did, and build on its success with stadium improvements and other program upgrades.

“It’s an amazing transition from what we had (at Oregon) in 1977 (when he was hired),” Brooks said. “It’s almost storybook what has happened (at Oregon), from the days of being one of the have-nots to being one of the major haves, not only in the conference but in the country.

“If Kentucky wants to maintain what we have started there, they’re going to have to get into the 21st century. ... They have to make that commitment.”

That challenge will be for others, as Brooks concerns himself with river levels dropping so the fishing improves, and keeping the ball in the fairway.

“The only reason I know I’m getting older is that (golf) ball doesn’t go as far and it’s harder to make a full turn” on his swing, he said.

Still, is that really a 69th birthday looming in August?

“One of the reasons I decided to retire is it seemed like I was going to a bunch of memorial services,” Brooks said. “While I’m healthy, I need to enjoy doing some things with Karen that we haven’t done.

“I’ll just try to enjoy life and it’s kind of nice not having to be somewhere every day. I’m just kind of feeling my way and seeing where it all leads.”