http://sportstwo.com/NCAAF/Story/NCAAF/1424325 Rick Neuheisel is headed back to his alma mater. Neuheisel was named as the new football coach at UCLA on Saturday, ending the school's month-long search to replace the fired Karl Dorrell. The 46-year-old Neuheisel spent eight seasons coaching at Colorado and Washington from 1995-2002, compiling a 66-30 overall record during that span. "Rick has enjoyed great success throughout his career, and we believe he is the coach who can take our program to the next level," UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero said. "His teams at Colorado and Washington continually challenged for conference championships and national rankings, and that is what we are looking to do at UCLA." A UCLA graduate who quarterbacked the Bruins to a victory over Illinois in the 1984 Rose Bowl, Neuheisel had spent the last three seasons as an assistant with the NFL's Baltimore Ravens. Neuheisel inherits a UCLA program which went 35-27 while making five straight bowl appearances in the last five seasons under Dorrell. The first black coach in school history and a UCLA alumnus, Dorrell was fired December 3 after coaching the Bruins to a 6-5 regular-season record this year. "I am thrilled to be returning to my alma mater as its head coach," Neuheisel said. "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." Neuheisel has not coached collegiately since being fired by Washington in the summer of 2003 for participating in a betting pool on the NCAA men's basketball Tournament. After suing the school for wrongful termination, Neuheisel reached a $4.5 million settlement with Washington and the NCAA in March 2005. "I made some mistakes earlier in my career and I take responsibility for those mistakes," Neuheisel said. "I have learned from that experience and I would never do anything that would reflect negatively on UCLA." "It has been at least five years and, in some cases, more than 10 years since the incidents occurred," Guerrero added. "We believe Rick has learned from those incidents and that he is more mature and experienced in the areas of compliance." Once considered one of the game's brightest young coaches, Neuheisel guided Colorado to consecutive 10-win seasons in his first two years in Boulder. After back-to-back sub-par seasons in 1997 and 1998, Neuheisel left Colorado to take the Washington job in January 1999. The Huskies enjoyed a terrific season under Neuheisel in 2000, going 11-1 and beating Purdue in the Rose Bowl. Neuheisel also spent six seasons as a UCLA assistant under Terry Donahue from 1988-1993, serving as a mentor to star quarterback Troy Aikman during that stretch. However, Neuheisel's finest moment at UCLA came in the 1984 Rose Bowl, when he overcame food poisoning to lead the Bruins to a 45-9 rout of Illinois. Neuheisel passed for four touchdowns in the effort, earning Rose Bowl MVP honors. "I think Rick is a great hire for UCLA," Donahue said. "He knows the UCLA situation as well as anybody. Rick is a proven head coach with a very successful record in the Pac-10, and he will be able to compete with any team in the conference." The Bruins have struggled mightily in the postseason for the better part of a decade, losing eight of their last 11 bowl games. UCLA dropped a 17-16 decision to Brigham Young in last Saturday's Las Vegas Bowl under defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker.
How much of this is bringing back a fomer alum & someone w/ name recognition to compete with Pete Carroll across town?
