Belisle through with injuries.

Byline: BOB CLARK The Register-Guard

Mike Belisle walked down the concrete ramp and onto the grass field where the Oregon football team was practicing Monday, and that was notable progress for a couple of reasons.

First, Belisle wasn't on crutches, which he's been using since injuring his left foot back on Sept. 22 against USC. Second, he was attending the practice and has been around during most of the Ducks' bowl preparation workouts.

`I'm just now starting to come back out here,' Belisle said. `Right after it happened, I couldn't be anywhere near it. ... I was kind of reclusive at first.'

That was largely because the 300-pound offensive lineman knew he was done playing football after the extent of the damage to his foot became known. The former Parade All-American from Marshfield High School in Coos Bay didn't want to deal with another extended rehab and more uncertainty about what would physically break down next.

Since he arrived in the fall of 1998, Belisle had already suffered a broken ankle and two knee ligament tears. After the last one of those in the 2000 season, Belisle promised himself and his family that another major injury would be his last as a football player.

`The doctors had a little suggestive influence on me, but more than anything, I want to be able to run and play with my kids when I'm older,' Belisle said. `I did something that played itself out, so I think it's time for me to go on and find something else.'

Belisle has applied for admission to law school next fall, his interest in that area piqued after working last summer as a law clerk.

`I like to argue, and that kind of material is what I'm good at,' Belisle said.

Belisle still wears a protective boot and will for another month, plus use crutches if the pain warrants taking the weight off of his foot. He did have three surgical screws removed last week, and the sutures are scheduled to come out later this week.

`This is more painful than any injury I've had,' Belisle said. `It's just been real difficult, but it'll come slowly.'

That's been true with the mental aspect of the healing process as well.

`It's funny the things you don't realize you'll miss, like the smell of the grass in your cleats,' Belisle said. `The first game (after the injury) was really rough, with everyone putting their gear on and then me not being able to go out there. It's hard for me, but all these guys are still my brothers, so I want to be out here as much as possible.'

FAMILY MAN: UO fullback Josh Line is optimistic that the family pediatrician will give the OK for his wife, Tiffany, and son, Griffin, to make the trip to the Fiesta Bowl.

`So far, he doesn't think it will be a real big deal,' Line said.

Tiffany gave birth at Sacred Heart Medical Center on Dec. 2 at 9 a.m., about six weeks early. She first had contractions on the Wednesday prior to the Civil War game, and UO coach Mike Bellotti had given Line clearance to leave the game if there was a telephone call to the sidelines that labor was under way.

`I really didn't think about it that much,' Line said. `She reassured me before we went to the game (that the birth wasn't imminent). ... We were hoping she could hold off, and it worked out perfect.'

Doctors first predicted Griffin would require hospitalization for a month after his premature arrival, but he was sent home a week after his birth. His size at birth was 5 pounds, 9 ounces and 20 inches long.

Line said Monday his son `is almost six pounds. ... He's really sturdy for how little he is.'

`He's doing good,' Line added. `He's eating and sleeping, and that's what we were hoping he'd do.'

Line has lost some sleep, but `not so much as he's keeping mom up. I'm getting the better end of that deal.'

The younger Line has his own uniform, with dad's number on it, but his first workouts won't be as a fullback.

`A kicker, a punter, a wide receiver,' Line said. `Something so I don't have to worry about his head.'

FUTURE DUCKS: Oregon has added a couple of verbal commitments in quarterback Andy Collins of Zillah High School in Washington and linebacker Tate Pittman of Scottsdale Community College in Arizona.

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Collins was an all-state selection for the 1A school, after passing for 2,075 yards and running for 513 yards. He told the Yakima Herald newspaper he was also recruited by Eastern Washington, Idaho and Portland State.

`It didn't matter who I played for as long as it was a big school,' Collins told the Herald. `It was a no-brainer decision.'

Collins won the 1A state triple jump title last spring and was third in both the high jump and javelin and said he would attempt to compete in track and field at Oregon.

Pittman was a second-team all-America choice this season by the National Junior College Athletic Association and an honorable mention all-America pick by JC Grid-Wire.

HEADED TO CAL: While no current UO assistants are expected to join the California staff of Jeff Tedford, the Ducks' offensive coordinator will hire a couple of former co-workers, various sources have indicated.

Bob Gregory, the defensive coordinator at Boise State this season who was secondary coach at Oregon prior to that, is expected to run the Cal defense for Tedford.

His linebackers coach will be Bob Foster, the UO defensive coordinator prior to Nick Aliotti who will come out of retirement to help protege Gregory get things going at Cal.

On the offensive side, Tedford will name Jim Michalczik as his line coach, taking him away from Oregon State, where he had coached tight ends and special teams. The receivers coach will be Eric Kiesau, now coaching that position at Utah State but formerly a `teamwork coordinator' at Oregon.

One of the people who has been under consideration to be offensive coordinator at Cal is Bill Musgrave, the former UO quarterback who is currently offensive coordinator at Virginia.

Tedford said earlier he would probably retain Ron Gould, currently the Cal running backs coach but a defensive back when he played at Oregon. The official announcements are expected to be made by Cal on Wednesday.