The last time Oregon played BYU, a guy by the name of Mike Bellotti was roaming the sidelines for the Ducks.

So it was only natural that current Oregon head coach Dan Lanning make sure to pick his brain in the run-up to a top-25 matchup with the Cougars at home on Saturday. According to Duck Territory’s Matt Prehm, Bellotti was at Oregon football practice on Tuesday. Prehm caught a photo of Bellotti and Lanning chatting together as they left practice.

Bellotti coached for 14 years at Oregon, winning 116 games and getting the Ducks to 12 bowl games. After he handed the keys to the Ferrari off to Chip Kelly, Bellotti moved into an administrative role in the athletic department.

So much of what we know about Oregon today is because of the groundwork Bellotti laid. He led the Ducks to their first four 10-win seasons in school history after the previous 100 years of football had only produced three nine-win campaigns. And he led the Ducks to 12 bowl games, three more than they had attended in their entire history before his arrival. He hired Kelly as his offensive coordinator ahead of the 2007 campaign and the rest is history.

Lanning has made a point early in his Oregon tenure to make the program accessible to members of the Ducks’ past. As a young coach, he’s taking every opportunity to learn something about the program he’s looking to keep at the top. Bellotti has a lot to offer in that regard.

Though that last BYU game didn’t end well. Lanning and the Ducks will hope for a different outcome on Saturday. Kickoff between the 25th-ranked Ducks (1-1) and the 12th-ranked Cougars is set for 12:35 p.m. PT on FOX.