December 29, 2007
UCLA hires Rick Neuheisel
UCLA has hired former Colorado and Washington head coach Rick Neuheisel to replace former coach Karl Dorrell.
Neuheisel signed a five-year contract at $1.25 million per year, plus incentives.
Neuheisal, who played QB for the Bruins in 1983 & 1984, had the support of several key boosters -- who were reportedly ready to donate millions to UCLA if Neuheisal was hired -- as well as famous UCLA alums, including NFL Pro-Bowler Jonathan Ogden and Hall of Famer Troy Aikman, whom Neuheisel tutored as a volunteer coach.
But Neuheisel - or "Slick Rick", as he is often known - is not without serious baggage. By some counts, Neuheisel has more than 50 NCAA violations on his resume. His Colorado teams were placed on two years probation for recruiting violations and Neuheisel was fired at Washington over NCAA gambling allegations (although he would later win a wrongful termination suit).
In hiring Neuheisel, UCLA addressed his checkered past.
"I know there are some issues in Rick's past that concern our constituency. We have discussed those at length with Rick and have investigated those issues with the NCAA. It has been at least five years and, in some cases, more than 10 years since the incidents occurred. We believe Rick has learned from those incidents and that he is more mature and experienced in the areas of compliance."
Neuheisel also addressed the concerns of many Bruins fans.
"I am thrilled to be returning to my alma mater as its head coach. UCLA is a special place and I want to thank Dan Guerrero and Chancellor [Gene] Block for the opportunity to come home. We are going to build a program our supporters will be proud of, both on and off the field. I can't wait to get started. I made some mistakes earlier in my career and I take responsibility for those mistakes. I have learned from that experience and I would never do anything that would reflect negatively on UCLA."
This is a risky hire. I think even UCLA would concede that. But for all of his potential downside, Neuheisel has a huge upside - his team's win.
The only question now is... can he win clean?
Comments:
40 Acres of Burnt Orange
posted on December 30, 2007 12:24 AM — 76.182.205.22 — link — abuse?
said:
Looks like he was made into an example by the NCAA. He needs to realize that the coaches are under even more scrutiny now than they were a couple of years ago.
Look at the whole Houston Nutt incident. Luckily the UCLA fan's aren't as crazed as those in ARK. Even though the AD and up expect UCLA to win the Pac 10 every year. If he screws up just once he will take it up the tailpipe.Zac said:
posted on December 31, 2007 10:58 AM — 64.12.116.136 — link — abuse?
So, the NCAA scrutinizes coaches and programs, do they? Look at us. There are threads involving Nick Saban, where-by he repeatedly "lied" to the media regarding his willingness to coach at AL. Then, there's Bobby Petrino who once coached for Atlanta, before calling in his notice (effective immediately) with 3 games left to coach for AR. Now you have Rick Neuheisel who has just taken the job at UCLA, and was allegedly (This implies suspected, but not proven.) involved in some college sport gambling scandal, not to mention NCAA violations, which were not alleged.
A lot of people have chimed in regarding who's the better coach, who has the better (or worse) character, who was misunderstood, who was justified in what he did, blah, blah, blah, blah blah…
Here's what I think, and this is strictly my OPINION. UCLA got a bargain. Basis: They hired Neuheisel at a starting salary of $1.25 M. Petrino's starting salary is $2.85 M. Combine them, and you get close to Nick Saban's salary of $4 M. All 3 have proven to be successful college football HC's. Yet, UCLA gets Neuheisel for less than 1/3 Saban's salary, AND like Bama, UCLA has had its share of glory years.
Now, I can understand AL paying big bucks to have the right coach bring the "Tide" back to its former prominence; i.e. when the Bear ruled the day. But come on, folks; $4 M??? At least Saban has a NC under his belt; Petrino hasn't led any team to that kind of greatness, and he's getting $2.85 M. That's why I say, for the money, Neuheisel is a good hire. If he doesn't work out, UCLA hasn't wasted near as much as AL or AR; if he does, all the better.
posted on December 31, 2007 11:18 AM — link — abuse?Kevin Donahue
said:
@Zac - Neuheisel may very well turn out to be a bargain for UCLA. It is certainly their most qualified hire in a while.
There is one school of thought at both UW and CU that says the investigations came at exactly the right time for Neuheisel, as his teams were in serious free-falls. It caused him to leave in such a way that no one really questioned where the teams were headed, instead focusing on the circus around him personally/professionally. In other words, they parted ways with Neuheisel *the man* versus Neuheisel *the coach*.
It will be interesting to see how Neuheisel does with the Bruins.
Zac said:
posted on December 31, 2007 12:14 PM — 64.12.116.136 — link — abuse?
That's some outstanding insight, Kev. My compliments. Riddle me this, regarding Chippewa's, Butch Jones, coming to the forefront as possibly WVU's next head coach.
He was an outstanding assistant coach at WVU, and had been an assistant coach at C MI and Rutgers before that. Being from MI, it was said his going to C MI as HC was an excellent fit. Not to mention, his bringing the Chippewa's to an 8-5 regular season wasn't bad in his 1st year as their HC.
Here are my issues should WVU hire Jones. 1) WVU has arguably transcended from respectable to a Top-10 program. This should demand a coach of commensurate caliber and experience. Jones has all of 1 years experience as a HC. 2) As a HC, Jones hasn't beaten any teams considered consistent Top-25 caliber; i.e. no "signature" wins. His team was blown out in 3 of their 1st 4 games this year, and too many of his wins involved high scoring affairs with the opponent; i.e. no defense. 3) There's been this outcry for somebody connected to WV. Proponents have proclaimed Jones a good fit because of his ties to WV. This is preposterous; Jones' only ties to WV were the 2 seasons he was an assistant coach at WVU. He didn't even attend WVU as a student.
I'm not saying Jones wouldn't turn out to be a decent HC, if hired. (If he is hired, he had better darn well get himself a decent DC.) I can't help feeling he is un-proven, has a lot learn, and WVU should concentrate their search elsewhere. What are your thoughts?
kershawdw said:
posted on December 31, 2007 1:14 PM — 24.136.33.6 — link — abuse?
What do you guys think about a Mike Leach hire at WVU? He has been dieing to get out of Texas Tech (he was interviewed by Miami and a couple other big school's). I guess a major problem would be he runs the "gun slinger" type offense as opposed to a running style.
posted on December 31, 2007 4:09 PM — link — abuse? said:
I think Jones would be a good. As you noted, it could "look bad" if WVU "steps down" to hire a MAC coach. But... honestly, who cares? That's a temporary pain. Jones runs the Rodriguez/Bowden system at CMU and has proven that he is a decent recruiter. So, you've got very, very little fall-off with the current players and the ability to use the current recruits rather than having to wait on "his guys".
You put a young guy like that at a BCS school and you might just have the next Urban Meyer. That said, if he does make a huge impact, then the 'Eers fans need to prepare themselves for Jones to move on from Morgantown within seven years.
Leave a comment
Please note that all comments are subject to the Fanblogs Comment Policy.
kershawdw said:
posted on December 30, 2007 12:13 AM — 24.136.33.6 — link — abuse?Ya know whats crap about the whole situation, the alleged "gambling" that he was involved in was nothing more than a neighborhood basketball pool, which is hardly in the same category as a pete rose type scandal. And according to ESPN the majority of those NCAA rules violations are committed by nearly every school, and the violations are in a very gray area. Like I said thats according to ESPN. I think the rap he gets for the "gambling" is absolute bs. Everybody enters an office pool or a friend pool for march madness, it doesnt deserve the hype it gets.