A slight alteration to the Ducks helmet decal improved the appearance of the team when they took the field for the 1984 season. Utilizing the design he had introduced upon taking the head coaching job in 1977, the squad wore Green Bay gold helmets with a white one-inch center stripe flanked by three-quarters-inch kelly green stripes. The identifying interlocking kelly green “UO” decal on each side now stood out more with the addition of a white border and Brooks continued to utilize the yellow face mask introduced in 1978 and the one-and-one-half-inch kelly green identifying numerals in the rear. QB Chris Miller didn’t start but took over in the opener for a comeback victory and threw for 1712 yards, many coming from the efforts of his two All Conference receivers Lew Barnes and Doug Herman and RB Kevin McCall who was the team’s leading pass catcher. Safety Doug Judge had four interceptions and seventy tackles but the defense was poor and the final record was 6-5.

Brooks did a nice job nursing the Ducks through the 1980’s, despite a fall-off and some defensive struggle in 1985. Chris Miller was tremendous in his senior year, setting passing records that placed him ahead of all-time great Dan Fouts and his season yardage total of 2237 helped to make him the Falcons first round draft choice. He had a nine-year pro career, primarily with Atlanta and primarily as a back-up. QB Bill Musgrave did a great job at the helm at the end of the decade and Oregon became a regular in post-season bowl competition, culminating in the Rose Bowl following the 1994 season. Brooks remained popular, even during some of his worst seasons in part because he would almost always defeat Oregon’s bitter rival Oregon State. If it hurt him in any way to post a 15-3-1 record against his alma mater, it never showed. He became the head coach of the NFL St. Louis Rams, served under Dan Reeves as the defensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons for four seasons, and after two years away from football, returned in 2003 as the head coach at the University Of Kentucky, rebuilding them into a bowl contender. Under Mike Belotti, who took over for Brooks prior to the 1995 season, Oregon has become a team that is regularly in the mix for the conference title and national attention. The university’s partnership with Oregon based Nike has provided them with so many helmet-jersey-pants combinations that the Ducks have become a fashion leader on the football field.