Sat Dec 29 16:50:44 2007

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Neuheisel named UCLA football coach

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Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Former UCLA quarterback Rick Neuheisel was named head coach of his alma mater's football program on Saturday.

The 46-year-old Neuheisel, who becomes the 16th head coach in school history, has spent the last three years as an offensive assistant coach with the Baltimore Ravens.

Prior to making the jump to the NFL, Neuheisel was head coach at the University of Colorado for four seasons and then spent four years as the head man at the University of Washington. During that eight-year span, Neuheisel was an impressive 66-30 and went to seven bowl games.

Neuheisel does come with some baggage though as he was fired by Washington in 2003 after he admitted gambling $6,400 in two off-campus NCAA basketball tournament pools -- bets that netted the former coach more than $17,000.

Neuheisel, who went on to sue Washington for wrongful termination and the NCAA for interfering with the situation, eventually reached a settlement in 2005.

"Rick has enjoyed great success throughout his career and we believe he is the coach who can take our program to the next level," said UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero. "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.

"Rick is an outstanding coach and recruiter. He is outgoing and personable and can motivate our players, fans and supporters. We believe he is well equipped to lead the program and attain the success all Bruin fans wish to achieve.

"I know there are some issues in Rick's past that concern our constituency," added Guerrero. "We have discussed those at length with Rick and have investigated those issues with the NCAA. It has been at least five years and, in some cases, more than 10 years since the incidents occurred. We believe Rick has learned from those incidents and that he is more mature and experienced in the areas of compliance."

As a quarterback with the Bruins, Neuheisel led the team to a victory in the 1984 Rose Bowl. He was named most valuable player of that game for his 298- passing yard, four touchdown performance.

Neuheisel also served six seasons as an assistant coach on offense with UCLA.

"I am thrilled to be returning to my alma mater as its head coach," said Neuheisel. "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. I made some mistakes earlier in my career and I take responsibility for those mistakes. I have learned from that experience and I would never do anything that would reflect negatively on UCLA."

Neuheisel replaces Karl Dorrell, who was fired in early December. Dorrell, a 1987 UCLA graduate, was dismissed despite a rather successful five- year tenure that included a bowl trip each season. Dorrell had a 35-27 career record at UCLA, including a 10-2 season in 2005, but the Bruins went 7-6 in 2006, and 6-7 this past season, which included embarrassing losses to Utah (44-6), and lowly Notre Dame (20-6).