Four years after leaving college football amid controversy and a lawsuit at Washington, Rick Neuheisel is resurfacing as a candidate to coach UCLA.
The former Bruins quarterback, now the offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens, confirmed Wednesday that his alma mater has contacted him about replacing the fired Karl Dorrell.
“I have been contacted and, as an alum, I want what’s best for them. And if I can help I would certainly be excited,” Neuheisel told The Associated Press in Owings Mills, Md., where he was helping prepare the Ravens for Sunday’s game at the Seattle Seahawks.
When asked if returning to the Bruins, whom he quarterbacked to victory in the 1984 Rose Bowl and before he became a UCLA assistant from 1986-93, would be his dream job, the 46-year-old Neuheisel said: “Yeah.
“But I want what’s best for them … All of us (Bruins) want to see that football program on top.”
Several media reports in Los Angeles have said defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker, the interim head coach for the Bruins’ game Saturday against BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl, is another candidate for the job. So are Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Norm Chow and Philadelphia Eagles assistant coach John Harbaugh.
Neuheisel, whose previously head coaching stints at Colorado and Washington included winning and turmoil, is reportedly the only candidate to have completed a second interview with UCLA. Neuheisel reportedly is the only potential coach to meet with the school’s chancellor.
He hasn’t been in the college game since Washington fired him in 2003 for participating in a betting pool on the NCAA basketball tournament. He sued for wrongful termination from Washington and settled in March, 2005, with UW and the NCAA for $4.5 million.
ESPN reported UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero was initially uninterested in speaking with Neuheisel because of the coach’s previous run-ins with the NCAA. However, support from alumni and former players led to an interview.
Neuheisel began his road back to coaching in the fall of that year as a volunteer assistant coaching quarterbacks at Seattle’s Rainier Beach High School. Billick hired him in 2005 to be Baltimore’s quarterback coach.
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