Here is an article by Dennis Dodd from CBSSports.com:

http://cbs.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/10528055

He is in support Of Rick Neuheisel and explains why he supports him. Take a look.

Collin Cowherd gave Rick N. a big push this a.m. I like Collin a lot, but he also said a couple of years ago that Rick left UW’s football program a “complete mess.” He also said that UCLA alums, RN’s former teammates and UCLA fans are making a big push…..Collin said, “Rick’s getting his second interview today….hope they get it done this afternoon.”
I said before that if it’s good enough for Bob Stiles, it’s good enough for me. I would also think that Rick has agreed to keep DW as DC which would be fine with me. I would make DW Ass’t Head Coach, give him a nice raise. The guy has done well, but I agree, he needs to be better against the spread offense.
In closing this, Cowherd said something that is very true: “Rick would bring excitement to UCLA football because right now UCLA football is BORING.” True. And guess what, instead of having to give out 10,000 tickets per game to kids (God Bless ‘em) maybe some BIG people will pay $300 for season tickets.

I hope it’s true that “Rick’s getting his second interview today….hope they get it done this afternoon.”

I will be on the edge of my seat.

Hey if Rick N. becomes our new coach then welcome. But he just better not leave our program in a “complete mess” like he has with UW and Colorado or even put us in probation!

I don’t always agrre with Collin Cowherd, but in this case I am in complete agreement. Rick is exciting, probably more exciting than the teams he coaches. That could be a good thing. While the media will center on him and his past trangressions his assistants can come in under the radar and scoop some prospects before the national signing day in February. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rick got into Pete’s stash of prized recruits that people are clammouring upon.

As for those who say he has past problems that can’t be forgiven and set aside, take a good look at you own house first. I believe that the Bible can give you some instruction there. If you take a good look at aalost all the great college coaches, everyone of them has had some form of problem at oe time or another, it is just that most have done well in hiding it.

And to Bruce, keep up the tickets for kids. I remember back in 62′ I was given one of those free tickets and that made me a lifetime ruin fan. Now I pay for my tickets, buy the garb and bolster the TV ratings for away games.

To add on regarding Rick, I personally know one of his former U of W players who said despite he only played in 7 games in his four seasos there, he would make the same decison to go there and play for Rick. That player is now an up and coming top football coach in the northwest and credits Rick with all he knows about coaching offense.

Okay Bruin, the kids can have their tickets! Sometimes I’m a Capitalist money-grubber…they can get in free, but since I know they eat a heckuva of lot hot dogs, pizza and candy, I want an across the board price increase at the concession stands for all people UNDER 15!!!! Just kidding!

Talk about a possible early Christmas present…if RN is named HC today, then Merry Christmas to all Bruin fans!

The article goes on to say “So what his name was attached to 51 secondary violations at Colorado and Washington?”

Granted, secondary violations but violations all the same. And 51 of them sure speaks to the point that RN darn well was prolific at messing things up and that he knowingly continued to do the same wrong things at UW that he did at Colorado.

Excitement, maybe. Ethical approach, apparently not.

I only hope UCLA fans will give Rick a chance to show what he can do to change this offense.

Wow J. You probably never made mistakes through out your life I wish I was perfect.

A question…Do you guys think if Rick N. becomes our new HC, do you think he would be under severe watch by the media due to his past???

More than likely. Look, I would love the idea of Rick being the next head coach but I also believe that if he crosses the line again then he is done. That should be in his contract.

Guys, these violations were 5 years ago…give the guy a break already. Im sure he has learned from his mistakes and will not do anything that would jeopardize his job with UCLA.

J…..Well, if you give 22 kids the fabulously expensive recruiting gift of a free boat ride across Lake Washington to the UW campus, you have 22 secondary violations. As the article mentioned, after the dust settled, all that remained was a letter of reprimand. We aren’t talking about free cars or 2 pounds of gold jewelry and a weekly stipend of $3000 here. Or, for that matter, four years of house payments for a kid’s parents.
I do agree that a violation is a violation, but Neuheisel has admitted to being too aggressive in his approach to recruiting.
There are very few coaches out there who do not, in one way or another, pull strings to get athletes into school. I remember an incident I was personally involved with in which a JC transfer was 3 units short of the required number for admission. After an exhaustive search, someone found an accredited correspondence course given through a very small college in Pennsylvania, that would normally take 12 weeks to complete but “could”, with proper channeling of funds, be completed in 10 days. The kid played.

I prefer Chow but am willing to give Neuheisel a chance with some reservation. I’m less worried about his past recruiting violations than I am about his record tailing off as time went on in his previous stints. In Dodd’s article he says Neuheisel went 28-20 over the last two years at both schools, a .583 winning percentage. That’s not much better than Dorrell!

I acknowledge Neuheisel is a big step up from KD, but why have his teams gone from great to mediocre? Is it because his recruits are not that good? He loses focus (perhaps by being hounded for NCAA violations) and things fall apart? I don’t know the answer but I do know that it concerns me.

Well said - About to Puke

Lifelong Bruin….I’ve been thinking about that record tailing off business. I’ve come to the following conclusions.
First, the “tailing off” was noticed because Neuheisel went from 10-2 or 11-1 to 8-4. Well, after going 11-1, what could he do to improve, go 12-0? Going 11-1 when you’re playing Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska, etc., is pretty darn good. If the year after you go 11-1 your schedule changes to where you are playing Oklahoma and Nebraska in back to back road games, its unlikely you’re gonna have the same success as the previous year.
Second, the fact he went 10-2 and 11-1 with players another coach recruited is impressive in it’s own right.

I don’t believe Neuheisel is perfect. I don’t even expect him to do much in the first couple years should he be hired. But, the guy is a very good recruiter, a tough competitor and he wants to coach at UCLA. Factor in the fact that he wants to prove himself and he makes for a pretty formidable choice.

Well I’m all about giving a guy another chance. I also think these “rules” by the NCAA is just plain idiotic. I mean why not give a kid some gifts if it’s coming from the boosters or the school. I mean what is the harm in that. So your telling me that in Christmas time the players are not allowed to get presents by anybody?! I really don’t see what is the big deal. It’s not like it’s gambling or shaving off points. Now that’s a whole different story all together. Plus EVERY school does it. it’s totally impossible for the NCAA to catch every school.

Let’s give Mike Price another chance then. What he did at Wazzu was amazing. Recruiting to that dump is near impossible.

Give Mike Price another chance at another school. Don’t want him and don’t need him. Not crazy about Price.

You know, back to the free boat rides that Neuheisel provided recruits. I can see his thinking. Imagine, entertaining a bunch of inner-city kids whose only view of water has been an occasional glimpse of the LA River. You find a guy with a boat and arrange transport from a dock, across beautiful Lake Washington, to the UW campus. I can just see all of their eyes and hear the ooohs and aaahs.
It turns out providing free transportion for recruits to the campus is an NCAA violation. Aggressive recruiting? Yes. A blatant offering of monetary support or promise of personal financial enhancement? Hardly.

When our ambitious politicians break the rules big time that’s expected but when an ambitious coach makes a small indigression he is punished. I would say most coaches cheat a little but get away with it. Rick wasn’t so lucky. Maybe we should wait for the 2nd coming and hire Jesus.

I understand why everyone is not sold on DW. It’s to bad he wasn’t given more games to coach this past season when it was obvious KD was out the door after losing to washington st after beating cal after losing to the whining irish. DG should have canned him after that game and handed the reigns over to DW then evaluate if you have a legit HC or not. Since that didn’t happen DG has to choose the best HC for the long haul and if that means taking a hit this year on losing recruits then so be it, just get it right. I’d like to see Chow as HC, but if for some reason RN gets the job I’d be happy as well so long as he keeps his nose clean.

I will be very disappointed if I wake up sunday or monday am and find out DG didn’t hire Rick. Would hate to see some other school get him. Go to different web sites about him and see what they say.

I love how everyone is trying to downplay all Slick Rick’s violations. Everyone is begining to sound like SC fans making excuses for all the dirty laundry with their program. I thought that UCLA was going to get serious about football. Why take a gamble on a coach that has tons of baggage? Is he really the best candidate out there?

I will be very dissapointed if I wake up and find that we chose slick rick over 30+years exp,as in NORM CHOW!!!
I do like R.N.But I just think norm chow commands more respect than r.n. and has a better offensive mind for the game.
BRO.COM is reporting a second interview for chow this week,to possibly meet with chancellor gene block.
they are also reporting that the interview with R.N went very well,but no word of a second interview as of yet.

While head coaches receive the major accolades after a winning season, the real success comes from the assistant staff. I’ve seen it numerous times, one man cannot complete the journey on his own and the majority of on-field decisions are made by assistant coaches. Neuheisel is aware of this and is an excellent observer of coaching talent. If he is named as the head coach, let him chose his own staff and mark this on your calendar,” UCLA’s football program will equal to that of USC in its first year.” Bob Stiles

Bob, are you the same Bob Stiles that saved the day in the Rose Bowl game against Mich. St. in 1966?

We can only hope Bob…We can only hope.

I really hope I get to say I told you so to all of the Neuheisel nay sayers! Christmas may be a little early for us Bruin fans. Lets hope they make it official today and name Rick Neuheisel our next football coach! Go Bruins!!!

Been a bruin since 1965.This is my first post to this site. I hope and pray they hire Rick.

I remember a Saturday evening around 1995-96. After a big win at the Rose Bowl,we went to dinner over at Mijares Mexican restaurant. There at the bar was Rick hanging out just like everybody else. The guy bleeds blue and gold. Hoping and hollering and having a great time. Really impressed me. I truly believe he is the missing puzzle to Bruin Football. It would be great to see him on the opposite side of the field, with just as much enthusiasm as Pete Carrol.

Come on DG, pull the trigger.

Might have been a few years earlier like 92-93. Man time flies. Anyways, I stand by my comments.

No Norman Chow!

We need personality!

JWR…Realistically, we will probably hear who the next head coach is on Sunday the 23rd, or early Monday the 24th. Even though I don’t believe Walker should be the coach hired, it would be totally inappropriate to submarine him before the team plays in the bowl game. The game has to be played with some semblence of credibility.

Conversely, I do believe if Walker was going to be hired as the next head coach, we would already know. There would be absolutely no reason to delay the announcement.

You guys (and gals) are absolutely great. I get more info through this site than almost anywhere else. About to Puke, on your last comment, I think you hit the proverbial nail on the head. With all the recruits recently on campus, and with the Vegas bowl just days away, I believe 100% that if DW was to get the job, it definitely would have been announced already! It would add a buzz leading up to the game, the type of buzz we haven’t had for UCLA football in years. The fact that it’s been so quiet makes me believe that DW won’t get the job. Clearly RN would be the best choice to add buzz and excitement to the program (especially with the stuff about Reggie Bush coming around the corner - boohoo to SUC!). My gut feeling tells me that RN be HC, and they’re trying to push DW to stay as DC, plus a raise and title of Ass’t HC (to keep him away from UWashington) and to keep the recruits coming. Perhaps he’s trying to convince RN to hire his own staff, while keeping Walker as DC. It would fun to dream that Chow could be OC as well…

Well put - John W. Regan @ 1:56pm. Hire Rick now!

On the BRO premium board there appears to be someone saying that Chow is getting the job. I’m not a member, so I can’t read anything other than the titles of the posts.

Hope that’s BS though.

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. Give me people who can do what they’re supposed to do and do it well and legit……

Unless we have actual contact with coaches and other people in Westwood, we are just trying to devine information out of thin air.
That’s why the whole question of DW perplexes me. If this guy is so good then name him head coach and let him get on with the job at hand.
What bothers me is another trend that seems to driving this whole affair. It started with KD and seems to be building with DW. That is the whole issue of P.C.
My son, the Prep School Sports editor, told me that one of the big reasons that KD got the job was becuse it was thought that he could recruit in the hood and help offset the success that U$C was having in that regard.
I honestly think that UCLA is doing everything in it’s power to placate the P.C. people. After the handicapped parking scandal,in which they took a hugh beating, the powers to be have done everything they could to look PC.
Hiring Dorrell and the campaign to keep DW smell like a hugh PC rally disguised as a coaching search. The only hire that makes sense and would disarm the PC monster is RN.
RN is a popular coach and an Alumni, two things the PC people can’t counter. Unless DG has a high surprise up his sleeve come Sunday after we tank in Vegas,RN is the only sensable choice.

Since you like things straightforward and non- PC, I think just about anyone in the hood can spell better than you. You went to UCLA? Really?

Those aren’t just typos, you really can’t spell.

Never said I was a great speller. The Old Timer’s Disease is setting in.

Some younger Bruins might not remember that RN was our OC by the time he was Ben Olsons age and Colorado’s HC before he was 30. We prayed for TD to retire so Rick could take over. He was the hottest prospect in the country. Yes, recruiting violations but not for passing out cars and money like Oklahoma and Texas. His hire is only 15 yrs late.

Please, Eric Scott is known felon convicted multiple times and he’s still on the coaching staff even though we had an easy excuse to fire him. But we cant give RN a second chance? Hypocrites.

Bobby Hauck has had problem players at the University of Montana who have run afoul of the law. That’s a non-starter at UCLA.

It feels like it is going to be Neuheisel, who will give UCLA the energy the program badly needs.

In due respect to process, they should get this finished so that they can save the recruiting class. I know that Knox is looking hard elsewhere and I imagine he’s not alone.

Its a rout. Dohn now saying Chow wont get a second interview, now claiming one “cure” is for Block and Guerrero to travel to Chow. Yeah that makes sense. Guess Chow really wants that job.

I believe Dohn said that Chow can’t come to LA right now for the second interview not that he won’t get a second. This dosen’t mean anything.

Is Dan Guerrero attempting to do what no AD has done before?

Is it possible that DG and Neuheisel have shared the same vision for some time, and rather than hire Neu for the HC position and then begin a slow process of building the assistant pool, Guerrero has the freedom and is assembling the dream team to be hired all in one shot?

Think of this:

1. Chow not the personality for HC nor the long term guy UCLA needs yet an interview happened, and rumors of offers already made exist and yet he’s not meeting with Chancellor for 2nd interview
2. John Harbaugh (NFL assistants coach) Who is this guy? Why would we be interviewing? Certainly not someone a candidate for HC, but perhaps a good assistant that Neu recommended?
3. Walker not interviewed a second time, but remaining a loyal and invested DC?
4. Recently, UCLA has taken real good care, and had a focus on assistant coaches, a philosophy DG created. UCLA assistants as a group are 1st or 2nd best paid in Pac 10 (1 team doesn’t report).
5. UCLA has a top 5 recruiting class it doesn’t want to lose, and wants to give recruits a vision that the future is now. A vision that doesn’t depend on whether one coach stays or goes.

Could a Neuheisel/Chow/Walker dream team be assembling this week? Now that would scare the living daylights out of $C and shut the TrOJan reporters like Simers up for good.

There is going to be a special place in hell for guys like TJ Simmers. No man has made so many peoples’ lives as miserable over sports in the history of sport. He stirs up problems where there are none. He jumps from band wagon to band wagon like like a band of sailors hitting the bars on shore leave. And to make it worse, he hits below the belt more often than Rush Limbaugh ever has to politicians.

If Rick comes in as coach I am sure he will dream up some “Simmersism” to describe him with and do his best to stir up more garbage.

But watch out for Rick and the team winning and moving on to a BCS bowl game, I am sure Simmers will take credit for that.

Negative journalists are just that “negative.” They can be occaisionally amusing, but are you laughing with them, or laughing at them for being the only person on earth to stoop as low as they do.

TJ will never be a Grantland Rice, nor will he ever be a Jim Murray. Pulitzer will not be synomonous wiyh his name. I only read his columns to see how low he will continue to stoop. It’s like a traffic wreck, you have to slow down to see if someone got hurt.

There are fishwrap hacks who write about high school teams for the local advertising throw-away papers that are better than him. His nose is perpetually brown from sucking up to sources and then the next week he blasts the same people for something else. He bags too often on members of his own family in print which gets you a little bit warmer place in hell.

He is a guy who couldn’t kick an extra point, sink a fre-throw or hit a wiffle ball out of the back yard. A total dork, klutz and spaz. He helped to mess up his own daughter who would be playing in the WNBA or past women’s Olympic teams by hovering over her so she would not play her senior season of high school. He wrote that in a column, maybe a “mea culpa” on his part.

The mere fact that he is listened to on the radio amazes me. He sounds like such a whiner, truely he does. There is just one question I would have for TJ; how many times were you “pantsed” and had them ran up the flagpole in junior high school to make you the evil person you are?

I am sure that TJ will give his usual line of crap to the next Bruin coach and begin ridiculing the coach before he has 24 hours on the job.

BruinBuddy–that was pure gold. I’ve long wondered how TJ even got a job at the LAT because his writing is awful. To see that compounded with horrible analysis is truly the epitome of garbage.