Rick Neuheisel’s law degree should come in handy these days. Here he is, in his fourth year at UCLA, and he’s fighting for his professional life. How does he defend himself in the court of public opinion against these charges?
• Entering Saturday’s home game against Colorado, Neuheisel is 20-27 overall and 12-22 in conference at UCLA.
• He has one winning record: 7-6 in 2009 when UCLA went to its only bowl game under him, a victory over Temple in the EagleBank Bowl.
• He’s 3-15 in conference road games.
• Attendance, which averaged 76,378 in 2007, the year before he was hired, has declined every year since to an average of 56,505 this season.
“There is no reason UCLA shouldn’t be in the top 25 every year,” said Petros Papadakis, who co-hosts the popular sports talk show “Petros and Money” on Fox Sports Radio on the West Coast. “The level of talent on the team right now, they should be better. Rick Neuheisel knows that and agrees.”
On Tuesday’s Pac-12 conference call, Neuheisel was asked what UCLA’s greatest strides have been under his watch.
“We have great kids in the program and we’ve got great character,” he said. “That doesn’t mean they’re mistake-free, but we’re doing a nice job of fulfilling the mission of not only bringing in quality kids but also making sure they’re getting their education and doing what UCLA’s always done, which is produce a program that everybody can be proud of.”
As a lawyer, he knows any prosecutor will drill that argument full of more holes than he sees in his Pac-12-worst rush defense every week. In his case, he has about 315,000 UCLA alumni in Southern California serving as prosecutors.
In his counterargument, Neuheisel quickly adds: “We have to turn the corner and win more games. There’s no question about that.”
The rising flame under Neuheisel’s seat can now be seen in Colorado. It’s certainly warming critics still bristling here over his departure for Washington in 1998 after a four-year record of 33-14 and a 3-0 bowl mark.
Yet for all the shots Neuheisel has taken, he has one bullet left: His Bruins (4-3 Pac-12, 5-5 overall) control their destiny in the South Division. If they beat Colorado and Southern California to finish the regular season, UCLA wins the Pac-12 South.
Some observers feel athletic director Dan Guerrero has already made up his mind to fire Neuheisel, who has one year left on his contract. Others aren’t so sure.
“Boosters can squawk all they want,” Papadakis said. “But if he ends up 6-6 and going to a bowl game, I don’t think they’ll fire Rick Neuheisel.”
Neuheisel maddens Bruins fans for his continual teases. Rick Kimbrel, who covers UCLA for the recruiting service , calls Neuheisel “one of the best recruiters I’ve ever seen.” UCLA has gone from beating Tennessee in his first road game in 2008 to blowing out Cal and upsetting then 19th-ranked Arizona State in consecutive weeks this fall.
But those two wins were sandwiched between a 48-12 pratfall to an awful Arizona team and curling into the fetal position at Utah, losing 31-6 on Saturday in the snow.
Afterward, Neuheisel said in almost a re-election speech: “I’m a good football coach and if my services are no longer wanted here, I’ll find work. I’m building what I think is something special here.”
What has gone wrong? In four years, he has not developed a consistent quarterback. Not one of his quarterbacks has finished higher than ninth in the conference in pass efficiency.
The past two years, Neuheisel has gone to the pistol offense, which requires the quarterback to run and throw. The move helped improve the running attack a year ago, but the passing game collapsed.
Neuheisel split with coordinator Norm Chow after last season and brought in Mike Johnson from the San Francisco 49ers. During the past three years, Neuheisel’s quarterbacks, Kevin Prince and Richard Brehaut, have missed a combined 13 games with various major injuries.
“The quarterback’s got to be a runner,” Neuheisel said. “It’s part of the deal. If he runs then he obviously is going to be subject to some tackling. But teams across the country are doing it all over the place so we’re no different. If you look at the quarterbacks in the national championship last year, both of them were runners.”
But Prince and Brehaut, critics are quick to point out, are not Cam Newton, who led Auburn to the title last year, or Darron Thomas, Oregon’s leader again this season.
In Neuheisel’s defense, he inherited a mess. Karl Dorrell, his predecessor, left him with a thin offensive line in more ways than one. In 2008, UCLA quarterbacks were sacked 35 times.
“UCLA’s offensive line he inherited was about as bad as I’ve seen in Division I,” Kimbrel said. “(Kevin) Craft would get sacked on a three-step drop back.”
Player development hasn’t been big at UCLA. The Bruins haven’t had an offensive lineman or quarterback drafted since 1999.
On Neuheisel’s side is an athletic director who’s taking almost as much heat as he is. Guerrero has already fired two football coaches and doesn’t want to make it three. He didn’t return calls this week from The Denver Post, but in September he told the L.A. Times: “Where we are from a football standpoint is disappointing to everyone. Can we turn this around? Obviously, we have to believe we can. There’s solid justification for the hires that I’ve made.”
Neuheisel’s fate is in his hands. If he defeats Colorado and beats Southern California next week and makes the Pac-12 title game at 7-5, he could be safe.
But what if he loses to the Buffaloes?
“If they lost to Colorado, I think they’ll let him finish the season against USC,” Kimbrel said, “but I’d say he’s 100 percent gone.”
John Henderson: 303-954-1299, jhenderson@denverpost.com or
Stats
UCLA: 20-27
In his fourth season at his alma mater, Neuheisel has just one winning season so far (7-6 in 2009).
Washington: 33-16
From 1999 to 2002, Neuheisel went to four bowls, including the Rose Bowl after going 11-1 in 2000.
Colorado: 33-14
Following Bill McCartney, Neuheisel’s first two Buffs teams went 10-2, then fell to 13-10 in last two years.
Three questions for Colorado
1. Will Colorado take advantage of UCLA’s porous rushing defense? Senior tailback Rodney Stewart rushed for 181 yards last Saturday in a victory over Arizona and should be full of confidence. Stewart, however, has yet to put together consecutive 100-yard games this season. UCLA ranks last among Pac-12 teams in rushing defense, yielding an average of 190.2 yards per game.
2. Can CU’s defense prevent UCLA running backs from controlling the ball? It’s a bit ironic that a team coached by a former pro quarterback (Rick Neuheisel) would hang its hat on the running game. But that’s where UCLA is. UCLA has rushed for more than 200 yards in two of its past three games and in five games overall. Junior tailback Johnathan Franklin (695 yards) and senior backup Derrick Coleman (585 yards) each average more than 5 yards a carry. And CU had better watch out for quarterback Kevin Prince (306 yards) running out of the pistol offense.
3. Who has the best receiving day: Colorado’s Paul Richardson, UCLA senior Taylor Embree or Josh Smith, another Bruins senior? Each figures to be especially pumped for this one. Richardson’s father played wide receiver for UCLA and Paul originally signed a national letter of intent with the Bruins. Embree, of course, is the son of CU coach Jon Embree. Smith played two seasons at Colorado, combining for 52 receptions in 2007 and 2008. Tom Kensler, The Denver Post
