Search for coach expands

UCLA officials, who were down to two candidates for the Bruins’ head football coach job, are exploring other possibilities, sources familiar with the search said.

John Harbaugh, a Philadelphia Eagles assistant who was interviewed more than two weeks ago, will meet with UCLA Chancellor Gene Block today, the sources said. Meanwhile, athletic department officials have also had informal talks with a college head coach whose team has to still play in a bowl game, the sources said.

Baltimore Ravens assistant Rick Neuheisel and UCLA interim Coach DeWayne Walker, who have both met with Block, were what remained this week from a search process that began Dec. 3 when Karl Dorrell was fired. Both remain strong candidates.

There are concerns about Neuheisel’s past. The NCAA put Colorado on two years’ probation for violations when Neuheisel was coach, though all were secondary violations. He was also fired as head coach at Washington for taking part in an NCAA basketball betting pool but later received a $4.5-million settlement in a wrongful termination suit.

Walker’s lack of head coach experience remains a sticking point, sources said. Walker, meanwhile, has been offered a two-year contract to become the defensive coordinator at Washington. A UCLA source said that when Walker met with Huskies Coach Tyrone Willingham this week, he said he would wait until the process of hiring a Bruins coach had run its course before giving an answer.

Harbaugh, 45, also lacks head coach experience and has few ties on the West Coast beyond his brother, Jim Harbaugh, the head coach at Stanford. He has been an Eagles assistant since 1998 and previously spent time as a collegiate assistant at Indiana, Cincinnati, Western Michigan and Morehead State.

UCLA officials have already been turned down by Boise State’s Chris Peterson and had overtures turned aside by Oregon’s Mike Bellotti.

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UCLA defensive tackle Kevin Brown had minor surgery on his left hip joint. He will be on crutches for three to four weeks, school officials said.

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chris.foster@latimes.com