Rick Better get it over Chow or any of them. He is the perfect fit.

Neuheisel is the right Bruin for this job!!!

Have the Neuheisel boosters checked the Baltimore Ravens’ offensive performance this year? Their coordinator is the guy you want? No thanks!

Thank you Jake , finally someone steps away from the R.N. cheer section to ask some questions .Again I ask you ; what is it about Neuheisel’s coaching record that gets you guys so excited ? Are you not concerned about his decline in wins after a couple of seasons at his last two gigs(U.W. and C.U.) ? If he recruits so well , why did his teams have less wins once HIS recruits were in place ? Why the drop in wins after HIS program was completely implemented? I DO NOT QUESTION HIS ENTHUSIASM OR HIS U.C.L.A. PEDIGREE . I only ask that you guys consider his record .Talking the talk when addressing recruits , administrators the press or alumni does not necessarily produce victories on the playing field .At this level of play you have got to be more than a good salesman.

There had indeed better be some other names, because otherwise this search is as bad as the last one. Walker, Chow and Neuheisel obviously wanted thsi job from the start. Harbaugh, no one has ever heard of. So what happened to all the other names? Leach, Mendenhall, Bowden, Jones? Do you mean to tell me that all UCLA could dredge up are assistant coaches and one guy who is an alumnus and is also an assistant right now?

Jake, would you like to design an offense with Kyle Boller as QB, banged-up RB’s, a group of 3rd down type receivers, an all-pro left tackle who can barely walk, and a head coach who insists on calling the plays? Even under those circumstances, which team this year has come closest to beating New England?

Thankfully, Guerrero isn’t going to judge the coaches applying for the job off one year of results or what may have happened in one particular circumstance.

What you may want to do is look at what Neuheisel’s offenses did against the “big boys” of college football. Beat SC, Michigan, Miami, etc. If you want to hire a coach off one year’s results, hell, just hire June Jones. His team went undefeated, by your logic UCLA will go undefeated if we bring him in. No thanks.

Jake, I guess the SC boosters had better go back and check Carroll’s record as head coach of the Jets and Patriots. Hell, he won 3 games. Wow, I think SC made a drastic mistake hiring Carroll. He is a loser.

Just an added piece of information on June Jones. If UCLA were to hire June Jones, the people at Oregon State and Oregon will get a good laugh. June Jones was an assistant at Div II Portland State under Mouse Davis. Mouse Davis is credited with being the chief run-and-shoot proponent in football. Curiously, Mouse Davis is now an assistant to Jones at Hawaii. The Portland St. teams under Neil Lomax, running the run-and-shoot beat E. Washington, Montana St., Southern Oregon, Idaho St., etc. by huge scores. But, Portland State couldn’t stay on the same field against an Oregon or Oregon State. And, even though June Jones is a known coach in Oregon, he was never considered to fill a coaching vacancy by the Ducks or Beavers.
He did bring his offense to the NFL and got pasted while at Atlanta and San Diego. The Houston Oilers tried it, too. Got killed.
The point to this is, June Jones is in a perfect spot for him. He is a major celebrity on Oahu. He would be nuts to want to leave Hawaii.

Please look no more, It’s Rick. Rick is the man.

Rise Up–I think you bring up some good points that deserve scrutiny. When I saw Neuheisel’s record, I also wondered why his teams got worse as time went on. Although I support him, I think it’s fair to ask the questions you raised. Anybody care to offer their take?

UCLAN–”otherwise this search is as bad as the last one”. I have to disagree with you here. Last time, we ended up in Dorrell with a coach who as his highest credit was wide receiver coach for the Broncos. If we are lucky to get either Chow or Neuheisel, both of whom with vastly more experience and are interviewing and interested in the job, we would be FAR BETTER OFF than last time. Hands down. In fact personally I don’t care about the other candidates and would be very pleased with either.

While I’m on my current rant I want to mention why the run-and-shoot tends to be effective vs lower division football teams or against non-elite Division I teams. Most teams employ a Cover 2 defense (or a variation) against the run-and-shoot because it is primarily a passing offense that stretches the field with deep routes. The Cover 2 uses 2 safties, each responsible for half the field laterally. Beneath the safties are 3 linebackers and 2 corners, each responsible for a zone. The run and shoot is effective because it floods the zones of coverage. It will run a receiver deep to carry the safety and then run 1 receiver under the safety on the same side of the field, that the corner is responsible for. Then the back will go to the zone vacated by the corner. The QB has 3 options. If the linebacker or corner is too slow to get into coverage, or if the safety comes up without the other safety rotating over to help out, somebody is open to throw to.
The offense works against lower division teams because the disparency of talent on any given team can be huge. All it takes is one piece of the puzzle, a slow LB or a lesser talented CB or safety, or a LB who isn’t good at pattern reads to cover for a corner who has been taken into wide coverage, and the offense can work them the entire game.
Against the big boys, the run and shoot is less likely to work because the talent in the secondary is usually of better quality. There is less chance of blown coverage and the athletes are faster to respond. If the QB rolls and sees he is outside coverage, yes, he can run with the ball. But, if he runs with the ball, he is going to get hit. The big boys hit hard. You don’t want your QB taking hits that often.
Also, teams will put corners on the line of scrimmage to jam or flatten out the receivers and blitz a LB to hurry the QB. If the receivers, backs and QB aren’t on the same page, the offense bogs down.
I’m sure you get the picture. Against less talented defenses, the run and shoot can be a big play offense. Against major college players and DC’s who have had a chance to study it, it is prone to turnovers and puts the QB in jeopardy of injury.

Why aren’t we hearing anything about App State’s Jerry Moore? He is 67 years old, so I know we’d be looking at 5-10 years at the max, but 3 straight Div II National Championships. Jim Tressel of Ohio State won some National Championships at Div II before coming over to Ohio State. In his brief time at Ohio State he has won one national championship, lost in a national championship, and is playing again for a national championship. I know, he was from Ohio and stayed in State and Jerry Moore is out of state. But he has a spread offense that kicks butt, has one of the best quarterbacks in the nation (according to Mel Kiper Jr) that no one has heard of, but he recruited to a D II school, and they haven’t had a huddle since 1995, they go no huddle. Top high school offensive talent will love to go there, give UCLA back the glory it used to have, and then will get almost any coach. What does everyone think. Kiffin could be good to, but no John Harbaugh or any other coordinator and if Neuheusel is so great, why didn’t he ever finish in the top 5 or 10 and he has had opportunities and has even cheated and not finished at the top.

ATP consistently has the best, most knowledgeable football takes I’ve seen on this site. For him to endorse Neuheisel says a lot. I have no direct football experience and have just been a fan of the game for over 35 yrs and a Bruin fan dating back to the mid 70’s, but I arrived at the same conclusion even before I came to this site. It seems that well over 50% of the passionate Bruin fans on this site are Neuheisel supporters. To get that many people to agree says even more. I just hope DG and the administration take notice.

Puke I’m a RN backer also.I like Leach a lot too.New England runs the spread also, so explain that with the lack of talent theory.Not starting a pissing contest just a question.

Humm? I guess a 8 and 4 record is all we aspire to at u.c.l.a. I’m still waiting for ATP or anyone else for that matter, to explain, why R.N. teams didn’t progress? and in fact, declined in victories as time whent on??? as a life long bruin fan I have the utmost disdain for usc, but I have to admire, as would any true football fan,,,what there program has become!!!when uncle pete and chow took over, there program was in the same state of “mediocrity” or worse than ours is now. So who is truly responsible for the sudden change across town?? well, NORM CHOW definatly deserves some of the credit for being part of, if not thee architect for what that programm has become!! I have many usc friends, and they are very disappointed that the last two years they’ve played in just the rosebowl!! and not the national championship game!!I AS A TRUE BRUIN FAN aspire to have that kind of presidence and mindset in our program!!!

RIck doesnt call the plays in BAltimore, by the way. THis is a bit of information that’s essential in this discussion. This is also a widely known fact in the NFL.

The most viable knock on Rick is the time after his initial success. I believe an analysis of why that is so is more salient than the widespread accusation that he leaves a program in a worse position.

What I do see is a litany of poor decisions by Rick. It always seemed that he was trying to find a better job. Attention span and dedication waned at CU and he cut corners, no question about it. Additionally, the program hasn’t truly recovered from those actions. I do believe that he was trying to be in the pac-10, which is where he truly calls home. With Washington the story is slightly different. Washington is a pretty liberal school, and he alieanated a great deal of people upon his arrival. This is the crux of the issue, really.

All in all, he cut corners at some places where he felt he needed to cut corners. I do believe that he’s wiser now and he does appera to be contrite. I don’t anticipate that he’s going to be looking to leave the program for a better job, because to him this is where he ultimately wanted to be. If his behavior has in fact changed, how is he not one of the best candidates?

It comes down to one of two decisions: Do you believe that he’s different or do you not believe it?

If you do, then he’s the best candidate that’s been mentioned to this point.

If you don’t, then that position is perfectly viable and understandable. I would respect that opinion to no end, even though I would disagree with it.

Haven’t heard/seen Terry Bowden’s name in a while…is he still in the mix? I think he would be an interesting choice.

People that do not support Rick Neuheisel have to separate CU and UW from UCLA.

When he was at CU, his loyalty lied with the Buffs and its fans in Boulder. But his subconscious mind was wishing if he were coaching in the PAC-10.

And that wish came true.

Then, when he was at UW, his loyalty lied with the Huskies and its fans in Seattle. But his subconscious mind was wishing if he were coaching for UCLA.

I believe that UCLA is his ultimate head coaching job. I believe he will win more games than he did at CU and UW. He’ll have minimum of 8-win season every year.

Please UCLA makes him the head coach.

Terry Bowden probably ends up at WVU, his alma mater and where he grew up.

Forget about that cow-eyed Bowden!
Has anyone even SCRUTINIZED his stats,
LIKE THE ANTI-NEUHEISEL CROWD DOES ON THIS SITE?
Resign yourself to Rick.
Or to Norm, as the best alternative.
You’ll sleep better.

did anyone see what the ravens did to the WINLESS dolphins? and you want rick as a head coach? wow…

This site is addictive!! I can’t go through the day without checking it once or twice…I love the dialogue especially with our common interest. All you “regulars” (Diego, Javier
et al), keep it up. Also, I think ATP should submit his name to DG for consideration. If we can’t have Rick I want to cheer for Puke!

I want to know who voted for Jim Harbaugh…maybe we should just bring back Dorrell.

oops, I meant John Harbaugh

If we get Kiffin, it’s a two-fer-one bargain,
if Harbaugh, it’s a three-fer.

i don’t get it…..

What happened to the talk about Bobby Hauck from Montana or Mike Riley from Oregon State? I think both of those guys are stand up guys who would bring the type of attitude that UCLA needs in it’s football program. Plus has a potential to bring in high profile recruits. Both have very solid head coaching records (i.e. Norm Chow/Walker), there’s not possible NCAA violations in their history (i.e. Rick Neuheisel) and it’s clear that these two want to stay in the college ranks (i.e. Mooch).

My vote is Bobby Hauck and bringing in Ed Orgeron as the offensive coordinator.

Riley’s players have had plenty of big time off the field problems in Corvallis which no one hears about down here.

My guess is that whomever they hire, UCLA will find a way to screw it up. The reason why no one wants the job is because it is not an attractive position — low salary, no stadium, expensive city for assistants, no long standing football tradition. The brilliant bureaucrats at UCLA will find something wrong with everyone, and in the end, we’ll get stuck with Dwayne Walker — another coach with no head coaching experience. I like Rick N…. I say, give him a chance. Does anyone really care if he took part in a high stakes NCAA basketball pool? At least he’s got a semblence of a personality and not dead man walking like Karl Dorrell.