Rick Neuheisel Fired

After what could only be described as four disappointing seasons, Rick Neuheisel is out as the UCLA Bruins’ head football coach. His alma mater will allow him to coach the Bruins’ Pac-12 title game matchup against the Oregon Ducks, but offensive coordinator Mike Johnson will take over as the interim coach should they receive a chance to play in a bowl game.

Since taking over in late 2007, Neuheisel has won just 21 games to his 28 losses, including a 6-6 record this year. The firing comes two days after UCLA lost to the USC Trojans 50-0, the largest deficit suffered by the Bruins in the rivalry game since 1930. UCLA enters the Pac-12 title game as 30-point underdogs going into Autzen Stadium on Friday.

Potential candidates to take over for Neuheisel will be former UCLA assistant coach Tom Cable (currently with the NFL Seattle Seahawks) and former defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker (current head coach at New Mexico State).

Neuheisel led the Bruins to a 5-1 record at the Rose Bowl this season and were positioned as the Pac-12 South representatives when both Utah and Arizona State had surprising losses last week. When Neuheisel first returned to coach UCLA, he claimed that the Los Angeles “football monopoly is over”, citing the rivalry with cross-town USC. With USC winning the previous 4 games in the series, Neuheisel stated last week that he felt UCLA had “closed the gap more” with the Trojans. The quote gave USC bulletin board material; the Trojans then went on to dominate the Bruins Saturday night, ending Rick Neuheisel’s hopes to defeat the rivals in his coaching stint at UCLA.

By: Brandon Williams