Rich Brooks Rich Brooks ( born August 20 , 1941 ) is a former American football player and coach . He served as the head coach at the University of Oregon from 1977 to 1994 and at the University of Kentucky from 2003 to 2009 , compiling a career college football record of 128 – 154 – 4 . Brooks was also the head coach of the NFL ' s St . Louis Rams from 1995 to 1996 , tallying mark of 13 – 19 . Brooks ' 1994 Ducks won the Pacific - 10 title and played in the 1995 Rose Bowl . For his efforts that season , he won a number of national coaching awards . In 1995 , the field at Autzen Stadium was named Rich Brooks Field , after the Ducks ' coach from 1977 to 1994 . Education . Brooks attended Oregon State University in Corvallis , where he majored in physical education and played defensive back for the football team under head coach Tommy Prothro . He received his bachelor ' s degree in 1963 and completed his master ' s degree in education at Oregon State the next year . He was also a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity at Oregon State . Coaching . His coaching career started at Oregon State as an assistant freshman coach while working on his master ' s degree . After receiving his master ' s degree , he moved to Sacramento , California , where he accepted an assistant coaching job at Norte Del Rio High School . He soon returned to his alma mater to serve as defensive line coach for the Beavers from 1965 through 1969 under new head coach Dee Andros . Brooks rejoined legendary coach Tommy Prothro in 1970 as linebacker s coach at UCLA , then followed Prothro to the Los Angeles Rams in 1971 as special teams and fundamentals coach . After two years in the NFL , Brooks returned to Oregon State to serve as defensive coordinator in 1973 under Andros , after previous DC Bud Riley left for the CFL . Brooks returned to the NFL in 1974 as defensive backs and special teams coach for the San Francisco 49ers under Dick Nolan , then went back to UCLA in 1976 to coach linebackers under first - year head coach Terry Donahue , where he helped the Bruins to a top - 20 final ranking . Oregon Ducks . Brooks accepted his first head coaching position in 1977 at the University of Oregon , Oregon State ' s bitter rival . At the time of his arrival , the Ducks had not had a winning season since 1969 , and only one since 1965 . Brooks ' first contract was a four - year deal at $ 32 , 000 per year . In 1980 a scandal was exposed from the 1977 - 79 academic years , and the school was placed on a two - year probation ( including a one year bowl ban ) by the NCAA for violations in recruiting , misuse of funds and academic standards . Brooks ' teams dominated the instate rivalry with Oregon State , compiling an overall record of 14 – 3 – 1 , which kept him popular during several disappointing seasons . In 1989 , he led the Ducks to a berth in the Independence Bowl - - their first bowl appearance since 1963 . Brooks would lead them to three more bowls in his tenure , becoming the first coach in school history to take the Ducks to four bowl games . ( The Pac - 8 did not allow a second bowl team from the conference until 1975 ) . His best season came in 1994 , when he led the Ducks to the first outright conference title in the school ' s 100 - year football history and a berth in the Rose Bowl . Brooks was named Pac - 10 Coach of the Year , and also won the Paul " Bear " Bryant Award as national coach of the year . His 91 wins were a school record until his successor and former offensive coordinator , Mike Bellotti , broke it in 2006 ; his 109 losses remain a school record . Brooks left Oregon for the NFL after the 1994 season . His overall record at Oregon was 18 games under . 500 , largely due to his first seven teams winning only 22 games combined . Nonetheless , Brooks is credited with reviving Oregon ' s football program and setting the stage for its rise to national prominence under Bellotti and Chip Kelly . St . Louis Rams . In February 1995 , Brooks accepted a four - year contract at $ 625 , 000 per year to become the head coach of the St . Louis Rams . He spent two years rebuilding , in which the team went 13 – 19 , but was fired at the end of the 1996 season . Brooks then spent four seasons on Dan Reeves ' staff in Atlanta , and served as interim head coach for the final two games of the Falcons ' 1998 Super Bowl season . Kentucky Wildcats . After two years away from the game , Brooks was hired as head coach at the University of Kentucky prior for the 2003 season . He agreed to a five - year contract at $ 725 , 000 per year . There was some controversy surrounding Brooks ' hiring , since he hadn ' t coached at the college level in almost a decade . Brooks inherited a team that was 7 – 5 in 2002 , but was just beginning to feel the effect of NCAA probation imposed because of recruiting violations committed by a prior Kentucky coaching staff . In Brooks ' first three seasons his squads posted records of 4 – 8 , 2 – 9 and 3 – 8 ( 9 – 25 overall , 4 – 20 in Southeastern Conference games ) . Brooks coached the 2006 Kentucky squad to a 7 – 5 regular season . The Wildcats earned their first bowl bid since 1999 , against Clemson in the Music City Bowl in Nashville , Tennessee where Brooks ' Wildcats defeated the Tigers 28 – 20 for Kentucky ' s first bowl victory since 1984 . On December 23 , 2006 , Kentucky Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart announced that the University and Brooks had agreed to a contract extension for four years , plus an additional year at the University ' s option . Brooks ' base pay is $ 1 million per year plus other incentives . In 2007 , the Kentucky compiled a 8 – 5 won - loss record overall and 3 – 5 in the SEC East including wins over the # 1 ranked LSU Tigers and intrastate rival # 8 ranked Louisville Cardinals . Kentucky rose to as high as # 8 in the AP Poll . The Wildcats closed out their campaign in the 2007 Music City Bowl , this time defeating the Florida State Seminoles by a score of 35 – 28 . On January 18 , 2008 , the Kentucky athletics department announced that when Brooks chose to retire , former Kentucky player and then offensive coordinator Joker Phillips would become the football team ' s next head coach . No date was set for this transition , but the action was taken to provide prospective recruits assurance of a smooth transition . In 2008 , the Wildcats went 7 – 6 , defeating favored East Carolina , the Conference USA champions , in the 2009 Liberty Bowl . Brooks became the first Kentucky coach to win bowl games in three consecutive years . On September 30 , 2009 , Brooks announced on his Twitter page that he had undergone a procedure to remove skin cancer from his leg . Brooks announced his retirement from collegiate coaching on January 4 , 2010 . As planned , Joker Phillips succeeded him . After leaving the Wildcats he returned to Oregon , living in Lane County near the McKenzie River .