Rick Neuheisel, former coach for the Washington Huskies has been named head coach of his alma mater UCLA in a 5 year deal worth about 1.25 million annually. Neuheisel was a quarterback for UCLA in 1984. He has been spending the last couple of years in the NFL and is currently the offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens.
For those who don’t know, Neuheisel was a very good coach in Washington with a 33-16 record, 4 bowl trips, and a Rose Bowl title. What ended his career there and what upset many fans was his participation in a betting pool on the NCAA basketball tournament. He sued for wrongful termination and left Washington and coaching with a messy ending.
UCLA has a good coach in Neuheisel as shown by the numbers in his tenure at Washington and could bring the team to some prominence. So he played in an NCAA basketball tournament pool, that is not a big deal and many people do it everywhere. It is not like he bet on college football or basketball, it was just a pool. Rules are rules but to tarnish the guys name is not fitting. Neuheisel should make nice comeback to the coaching in the PAC 10.