www.hireneuheisel.com

http://www.dumpdorrell.com/ filed Chapter 11 two weeks ago. With their primary content provider being “dumped” they had hoped to re-tool the marketing machine and spread their creative expertise to other candidates like Lloyd Carr, Houston McNutt and Dennis Franchione but those wimps all quit before these entrepreneurs could work their magic. With advertising revenues plummeting and Mr. Dorrell not being quickly re-hired, the company was forced to lay themselves off and return to being baristas at Starbucks.

Karl did get the team into the Las Vegas Bowl. Of course, with 66 out of 119 Division 1 football teams playing in bowl games this year, I am not sure that the Vegas Bowl is where the bar is set for coaching excellence. Karl was not there to coach the team so we can blame him for getting UCLA there but not the blocked field goal as time expired. I am sure Dorrell was watching the game on his new plasma screen TV surrounded by his loving, loyal family with the quiet confidence of a man pulling down $1 million a year for the next two years without having to leave the house.

DeWayne Walker did a commendable job getting a 6-6 team ready to play a red hot BYU team that has now won 10 in a row. UCLA beat them in the second game of the season but that was three starting quarterbacks and one head coach ago. The Bruins played hard and had every chance to win the game. DeWayne put his resume out there for the administration.

Dan Guerrero, I like Coach Walker and I hope he stays on to coach the defense next year. He is a first class recruiter and UCLA has a top class coming in if he stays. He has taken UCLA back into the LA hood to get some of the local talent that Bob Tolardo abandoned during his reign of mediocrity. But it is one thing to have three weeks to prepare for one game. It is quite another to go head to head against Mike Belloti, Dennis Erikson, Pete Carroll and the rest of the Pac-10 every week.

UCLA, please give the job to Rick Neuheisel. Neuheisel has tremendous credentials. He was a walk on at UCLA. In 1983, when the team started 0-3-1, Terry Donahue gave Ricky the starting QB job. He only completed 25 of 27 passes to beat top ranked Washington. UCLA finished 6-4-1. They beat USC at the Coliseum 27-17 and upset 4th ranked Illinois in the1984 Rose bowl, 45-9. His primary receiver was Karl Dorrell. He threw a then Rose Bowl Record four touchdown passes in that game and was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 1999. As a head coach, he has posted winning records at two different schools, Colorado and Washington. He is also probably willing to work on the cheap which always helps at UCLA.

Neuheisel was an academic All-American. UCLA gets a few of those, not so many across town. He actually graduated college and then got his Law Degree from USC. He passed the Arizona bar and planned on practicing law, making his millions and getting busy on a regular basis with some fine ASU Trim. His next decision, I question because he came back to UCLA as the Quarterback Coach making $30,000 a year working for Terry Donahue. Money in hand, trolling Scottsdale on Thursday nights or watching game film with Terry, eating In and Out and preparing for Oregon State? I am a die hard Bruin Football crank but I am so eating sushi with co-eds that Thursday night if it is my call. "Another Mojito, please. "

He left Washington and Colorado under some duress. He bent some rules while at Colorado…allegedly. He had too many contacts to a few recruits, minor stuff. There were not any sports agents paying his star running back’s parents $200,000 or have that same "impoverished" junior running back wearing 2 Karat Diamond studs at his Heisman acceptance speech on National TV...nothing like that.

He did win the office March Madness Office Pool at UW. The guy who wins the pool is an instant legend. He gets introduced at future BBQ's, as "the guy that won the office pool." Apparently, this created some undue scrutiny of Coach Nueheisel’s college basketball picking skills. Some administrators went so far as to suggest that the office pool was actually a form of gambling! Nonsense, it is like Mom, Apple Pie and Super Bowl squares for a $1. UW whacked him anyway. He did sue the NCAA, was completely exonerated and got $4.3 million for all of that unnecessary nonsense. I am not sure I want him in my pool. I have a good shot this year.

Surfer Rick is at least as youthful and good looking as Emperor Pete. He knows the town and he loves the limelight. He has been a head coach in College and Offensive Coordinator in the Pro’s. He was QB coach to Troy Aikman at UCLA. Norm Chow was on the short list also. I think Troy has accomplished more than any of the QB's Norm mentored combined. So he beats SC as a coach and a player, he wins bowl games as coach and a player, coached a Hall of Fame QB, wins the $5,000 office pool, sues the arrogant bastards who run the NCAA and then kicks their collective asses in court? Rick, press hard third copy is yours and welcome back to Westwood.

Neuheisel not only has the credentials to be the next high paid public employee coaching football at UCLA, he has better credentials than Tony Villaragosa, Diane Feinstein and Arnold who are already on California public pay rolls. He has my vote!

BTW: USC honks, got your calls on Saturday night after the gut wrenching loss in the Vegas Bowl. It was nice while I was nursing an 11 margarita Maalox moment and getting slammed at the tables but I really appreciated your heart felt condolences. I had one of my friend's children confirm that you are #1 in a Kodak moment on the blog site. I think you will know which picture it is but call me with any questions.

Random Thought: It seems odd that NFL player Kyle Turley has tirelessly fought and solicited money from current players to raise a mere $400,000 for all of those retired NFL Players not covered by the pension plan. These players never made much money, injuries were just as severe and medicine was not so user friendly back them. At the same time, a judge has ordered Mike Vick to pay $900,000 to ensure lifetime care for the dogs siezed from his property? Something seems amiss there but I am glad the dogs got a good deal. Mike might need a loan from them when he gets out of prison.

Final thought: It was a historical year for upsets in college football. The team ranked #2 had a 2-7 record while ranked second. Stanford’s upset of USC this year was the biggest college football upset since Las Vegas first posted odds. A 40 point underdog was the largest underdog ever to take down a big dog. It was a home game so it is nice that 92,000 Trojan faithful got to see a slice of history. The ticket stubs are a hot item on eBay I am sure. That game is why Troy is playing on January 1 and not January 7, 2008.

I thought some of you might want to know that.