(AP Photo/Ric Francis, File)

(AP) -- Oregon athletic director Mike Bellotti is stepping down after less than a year in the position to become a college football analyst with ESPN.

Bellotti was head coach of the Ducks for 14 seasons before he formally took over as athletic director last July. His resignation is effective April 5 and he'll make his debut on ESPN on April 17.

Bellotti's announcement Friday came as a surprise. At a hastily called news conference he said that working in television was something that he'd "thought about and maybe aspired to over the years."

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