When Harter was hired at Oregon 1971, Haney chose coaching over engineering and became a graduate assistant on the Ducks' staff, and was elevated to assistant coach the next year. Harter was known for his "Kamikaze Kids" defense, and led the Ducks for seven seasons. When he left for Penn State in State College in 1978, Haney was promoted in March at age 29.[4][5] His first contract as head coach was for three years at $29,000 per year.[6][7]
Haney's best year in the Pac-10 was his first in 1979, when the Ducks were 7–11 and finished in a tie for sixth. Near the end of his fifth season, he resigned in March 1983 because of his uninspiring record,[2][8][9][10] which was 53–82 (.388), and 27–63 (.300) in the Pac-10 conference.[11][12][13] He had one year remaining on his contract, at just under $36,700 annually.[2]
Haney was succeeded in Eugene by Don Monson, who had posted a 100–41 (.709) record in five years at Idaho in Moscow, with significant success against the northwest Pac-10 schools (3–0 against Haney's Ducks). The prior season in 1982, Monson's nationally-ranked Vandals were 27–3, third-seeded in the west regional, and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.