Crap. Just what we need. Not. An NFL coach who hasn’t been to campus, except to recruit, for 2 decades. Yup. The commitment to mediocrity continues.

It is getting too painful to watch UCLA football any more. Since I taught at one of the UniversityofSecondChoice’s professional schools for 5 years, maybe . . . No. I can’t do that.

DigDog. While i do like RN. This is exactly what Ive been saying UCLA needs. An NFL coach, with tons of experience, who may not be in the best place in the NFL. It’s Worked for SC. And it seems to be working for Alabama. I Definitely am looking forward to Fox possibly being our head coach. This is GREAT news.

UCLABRU1…..If they pass on Neuheisel, I like Fox, too. Is he going to get a serious look?

I hope this is just idle speculation. If Fox is DG’s answer, then he has asked the wrong question. Fox would be at UCLA two or three years then back to the NFL, or worse. Meanwhile, Neuheisel will be the head coach of some university somewhere, and that school will be in the national title hunt, and we will be wondering why we FAILED to hire the best possible man for the UCLA job! I’m starting to miss Dorrell.

Just read that John Harbaugh is going to get a second interview with Chancellor Block, which is COMPLETELY INSANE. The more time passes, the more ridiculous this search gets. I don’t have an opinion about Fox, but I would certainly take him over some no name with no head coaching experience. John Harbaugh makes DeWayne Walker seem like a logical choice–did I just say that?

mark, yes you did just say that out loud. Go to church, say 10 Hail Mary’s and then go on a mission to Central America for a year. Only then your sin will be absolved.

Reagan, not so sure about that. Word is that Fox wants to leave the NFL for good, close out his career in college. Its just internet rumor, but its something to look into.

That l.a. slimes article ( dec. 28 )going after danny-boy . . was Great __ because he is as imcompetent as dorrell

If Rick is not hired soon, I will not renew my season tickets after 25 years. If they don’t care. Why shoud I.

Personally, I like John Fox as an NFL coach. I DIDN’T SAY COLLEGE COACH.

Fox has been hampered by having an awful GM there and does not have a competitive team to work with. The Panther owner gave him a vote of confidence last weekend, but that may change, but it will be costly. Fox’s contract runs through 2010 and he will be paid $5,000,000 for next season. He is one of the higher paid NFL coaches.

If he gets fired he will still be paid millons each year for the next three seasons for being unemployed. If he gets fired and takes a college job he loses that money. I don’t think Mrs. Fox would be happy if he quit and took a job with UCLA at minimum wage either.

His overall pro and college record is 105-92 through today. That’s a .532 winning percentage. He has a better record in the NFL than college.

I would speculate that he wants the love of the interview, but is really not interested. Don’t panic, he is not going to be the guy for UCLA, just another DG red herring.

Pete Carroll wasn’t a successful H.C. in the NFL or college either and look at what he has done at Usc! Fox would be awesome and bring a new attitude to Ucla!!!!!!!

I doubt that UCLA goes after Fox, unless UCLA decides to finally step up financially and play with the big boys.

Guerrero just doesn’t want to hire Neuheisel unless every other frickin coach in the universe passes first.

I think I’m going to take a pass on UCLA football until the current AD and chancellor are long gone. I can’t take any more MEDIOCRITY. There is mediocrity in the search for a new coach. Mediocrity in the Chancellor’s office. (Almost makes me yearn for Charles young again!) The only place I find scintillating brilliance is . . . here.

You would think that after the Notre Dame fiasco everyone in the solar system knew Dorell’s time was up. You would think that Guerrero might have had an inkling that maybe he should start thinking about a new (correction, real) head coach. But NOOOOOO. Guerrero waited until AFTER the Brigham Young “moral victory” to start his search. And began burning bridges at an alarming rate thereafter.

I say end the suffering and hire Steve Lavin already!

J.J.,

Pete Carroll didn’t have John Fox’s contract and millions of dollars in compensation from Carolina at stake. As a college coach he was mediocre at best.

ATP. I just got off the phone with a source close to guerrero, and apparently the Fox news is one of a few secret plays guerrero has up his sleeve, supposedly he’s trying to draft up a budget for a coach like Fox. Hopefully that’s more than just the rumor floating around in the office.

Colony, you and several other people on this website are helping rot the search from within attacking anyone with an association to our athletic department. Guerrero is a smart man, and if you think he hasn’t considered anything we are debating on this website you are sorely mistaken. Guerrero will pull through, and as I said before Walker WASN’T named HC, and he still WON’T be. and his intent isn’t to keep Neu as his B plan, and its not some conspiracy to get RN to just get fed up with UCLA and pull out his name. He’s merely weighing his options. Have faith that the man behind 14 NCAA titles in just 5 years, along with Ben Howland, and over 20 second place titles, is looking at all his options.
While I’m getting as restless as the next person for the search to be finalized I know that with a New Year, The New coach will be a positive one.

JW Reagan….Yeah, good point on Fox. I’m sure he would be headed back to the NFL at first opportunity.
I think most of the people hoping Neuheisel is hired feel as if he will stay at UCLA as long as he’s wanted.

DD….sorry, missed your post and hadn’t heard the rumor that Fox wants to leave the NFL for good.

UCLABRUI - Guerrero’s plan in making Neuheisel his “B” choice is precisely the problem. Geurrero is damaging himself, the UCLA program and Neuheisel, to say nothing of UCLA’s ability to get good players for the next couple of years with his long drawn out process that makes him look like a ditherer.

Guerrero knew as far back as early October and the Notre Dame fiasco that Dorrell was on his way out. But for Guerrero to have nothing going except plan “B” in which he is embarassing Neuheisel and damaging the football program is plain incompetent.

I’m as proud as the next guy about UCLA’s 100 NCAA championshjips (and was on a championship team myself back in the dark ages), but football and basketball are where it’s at. And DG is less than halfway there now and fading fast.

UCLABRUI–well, I just got off the phone with Rick Neuheisel, and earlier today I spoke to June Jones. Guerrero and I are meeting for coffee tomorrow morning to talk over the HC situation–NOT!!!!

What bunkum!! I’m tired of reading bogus posts from people who claim to have the inside track/sources, insinuating they know who the next HC will be and when the announcement will be made. We’ve been told repeatedly how there will be an announcement in the next day or so–yeah right.

Seeing is believing. Guerrero is clearly over his head.

As funny as that was, its not like its some secret information I’m getting, I simply called a friend. And I believe I said it’s hopefully more than just a rumor around the office. Thank you for displaying your lack-of reading ethic. Nonetheless im not here to prove anything. I’m hear discussing possible candidates. The truth is, Fox is an option. Doesn’t mean anything other than the fact that he is an option. Though I will say he is being considered a serious option. What can you expect when were in the last few weeks of the NFL season. And Bowl season is ending right around the corner.

DigDog. I completely agree in the fact that I would love for the process to be more open to the public. It is though, not something we can change at the moment. However, I do believe its creating some attention for UCLA, people want to see who our coach will be, and will it really make a difference. And while I wish UCLA could have been as swift as Michigan to name a new head coach, the decision is an incredibly important one to steer UCLA football in a new direction. And Michigan is, well Michigan, A consistent football program that can get those “A” rated coaches we want. Either way, I am tired of the negativity on this site. I started coming to DD to get away from the $UC infested ESPN analysts, and the rediculous columns from what’s his name at the la times, I think we can keep this process positive, because we all want what is best for our school. At least we have that as our top priority. Go Bruins!

UCLABRU1….A lot of fans are losing patience with this mess. I know what you mean. I get calls from friends working at different universities and some coaches at the high school level talking up the latest news. A couple of them have given me “scoops” on what they’ve heard from people in their athletic department, but so far, I haven’t been able to confirm anything. For instance, I heard Mendenhall was going to interview after the Vegas Bowl. As far as I know, that didn’t happen. Then, last night I heard June Jones was going to get an interview after Hawaii’s bowl game. These reports came from a woman in the BYU athletic department and a male high school coach in Honolulu. I’m starting to feel as if people are just having fun with me. I mention these rumors on this site because the resulting discussions are always interesting.

With the endless delay to UCLA’s Head Coaching Search, my guess is the DG is waiting for either the NFL season to end(i.e. John Fox) or the Bowl Season to end(i.e. June Jones)to interview or announce the new HC. Jones may have wanted to coach Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl unlike Rich Rod., who bolted to Michigan and left WVU hanging without a HC to play Oklahoma.
I was hoping and still am that DG announces on Monday, 12/31, that RN is our new coach. What a New Year’s present that would be!

Well, as a Panthers fan, I’d like to know where all these “internet rumors of Fox wanting to leave the NFL for college coaching” are?

Any links out there to back this up?

This is the first I’ve heard of Fox going back to college coaching.

I’ve seen more rumors of other NFL teams picking him up if fired (4 teams) and I’ve seen NO links of him going back to college.

Think this is all wishfully thinking on the original posters thoughts.

But it looks like he has a safe jog for another year.

Granted, there are some in Carolina who would like hime gone, just done see it happenning.

Best site for Carolina Panthers news: http://www.carolinahuddle.com/forum/carolina-panthers/

The best indicator of how a football coach will do at UCLA is to look at who has done well in the most similar situation. John Fox is certainly a very credible coach, but he had a very average record as a college coach. June Jones and Chris Peterson have excelled in a weak conference. Mike Riley is really close with very good success in the
Pac 10 Conference itself. However Rick Neuheisel is most on target with a Pac 10 championship and a Rose Bowl win. Is there another coaching prospect being considered who has won the championship of a BCS conference? Unfortunately I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this. By choosing RN UCLA would be set for years to come in both football and basketball, yet it now sounds like Dan Guererro wants anyone but the person who can best deliver. I don’t know if it’s some emotional holier than thou attitude or some misguided idea about the school’s image, but it shows a gross lack of consideration for the fans and supporters of UCLA football.

Nice comments below Roger!

I posted on the Harbaugh board that Pereleman is reporting that DG is going to interview Mike Riley. Seems like Neuheisiel is still a better choice than Riley, but just wanted to get some more opinions on Riley.

Skew … did you not read the post?? The source is CSTV.com, a CBS company. That is a news organization so it’s no longer internet rumor, that is why we published it. Does it mean Fox will be our new HC? No. But you should resign yourself to the fact that he is being mentioned at the very least.

I am tired of waiting! Neuheisiel is the only choice, he has wanted this job when he was an assistant coach at UCLA. Why drag this process on any longer he’s the best choice for the university to have a chance in creating a competitive football program for a long time, he is still young enough to give us many good years of coaching. Now DG go do the right thing and hire Nueheisiel

Greg Neuheisal Is the New Coach of UCLA reported by ESPN

This UCLA coach hire is a BIG one for DG or any other athletic director trying to improve a program. We need to be patient while diligent in weighing in on this coach selection.
We, as alums, need to want the best, support the best, and win with the best which includes AD, HC, offensive and defensive players, special team players etc….this is a wonderful time for us to get the program moved up.
Go Bruins!!

its official rick n is the new coach just heard it on espn