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Articles
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Neuheisel’s
words reveal his true character Sure Rick Neuheisel carries some baggage around. But now it’s a bit easier to lift and carry. They say time heals all wounds. Translation: The passage of time diminishes the weight and severity of past transgressions for which one must be held accountable. Neuheisel’s time-diminishing load consists of some secondary NCAA infractions he incurred while coaching at Colorado, a couple of minor missteps as coach at Washington and, in the main, two instances of misrepresenting the truth to former Washington AD Barbara Hedges: (1) about a job interview with the San Francisco 49ers; and (2) about his participation in two auctions involving March Madness. In my mind, youth and inexperience contributed to the infractions at Colorado. He was only 33 when he replaced Bill McCartney as the Buffaloes' head coach. He didn’t disclose the truth about the 49ers interview because of a confidentiality agreement he made with 49ers management. The transcripts from the trial involving his successful lawsuit settlement with Washington and the NCAA for wrongful termination suggest that Washington fired Neuheisel because of fear of incurring the NCAA’s wrath and that his jettisoning was never about lying. An internal UW memo gave Neuheisel permission to participate in the two auctions, and he told the truth the same day he misrepresented the truth to Barbara and the two NCAA gumshoes that had blindsided him in violation of their own bylaws. Neuheisel settled with Washington and the NCAA for $4.7 million, including forgiven interest on a loan. An NCAA report allowed Neuheisel to continue coaching college football, as he had relied on his compliance officer for her interpretation of the NCAA bylaw pertaining to basketball pools. A few members of the Seattle media never wanted Neuheisel to coach at Washington from day one. His large salary (initially $1 million in 1999) meant that Washington was headed for a big-time college football business – to them, that was like having another Walmart in the Seattle area. A couple of local columnists were on his case the whole time he coached at Washington; unfortunately, one of them was the big man on campus in the eyes of the media elite, in and out of Seattle. Most of Neuheisel’s popped balloons have been inflated into a conflagration of Hindenberg proportions in the public’s mind. And it's fashionable nowadays to kick a man while he's down -- and to keep kicking. With Neuheisel, a lot of what you read is not what you get, the media and internet (blogs and message boards) having misrepresented the real person. Filtering through the carnage and piecing together a clear image of him takes a laborious journey, and after completing the puzzle, his image may need an acid wash or even a face transplant. Underneath it all is a fine, decent man who is most deserving of getting the head coaching job at UCLA. Neuheisel is the only coach under consideration by the UCLA administration who can compete successfully against Pete Carroll year after year. The other candidates are unproven. If Rick’s character has been so misrepresented -- especially on the web -- where does the truth about the man lie? In that regard, UCLA people have been all over this website, scouring it for Neuheisel stuff. Neuheisel’s talk given at the Curtis Williams Memorial five years ago is receiving the most attention. It defines him as a person and as a players’ coach. I am happy to see that people at Westwood have latched on to it. His memorial talk and dedication to Curtis during his last days on earth define Neuheisel best. His talk was given extemporaneously and without the use of notes. Link to it below. Malamute can be reached at malamute@4malamute.com |
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