Neuheisel Is Latest UCLA Assistant to Leave Program

Three-fourths of UCLA’s offensive coaching staff have left since the end of the season, with receiver coach Rick Neuheisel being the latest defection.

Neuheisel said Thursday that he has accepted a job coaching quarterbacks and receivers at Colorado.

His move follows those of offensive coordinator Homer Smith, to Alabama, and line coach Bob Palcic, to the Atlanta Falcons.

The lone coach remaining from last season’s offensive staff is Wayne Moses, who works with running backs.

“I’ve worked with some great receivers at UCLA, and I’ve enjoyed it, but I really wanted to get back to working with quarterbacks,” Neuheisel said.

Neuheisel, 32, was considered for the UCLA offensive coordinator’s job after Smith resigned, but was passed over. Coach Terry Donahue opted for the experience of Bob Toledo, who had been offensive coordinator at Texas A&M; and Oregon and head coach at Pacific.

Neuheisel said he was not going to Colorado because he wasn’t promoted to the offensive coordinator’s job, though he wanted it badly. Donahue had recommended him to Colorado Coach Bill McCartney.

Neuheisel also was interviewed for the head coaching job at San Diego State, but Ted Tollner, a Ram assistant and former USC coach, was hired.

Neuheisel will work under Colorado offensive coordinator Elliott Uzelec and replaces Karl Dorrell, a former Bruin teammate who left the Buffaloes to become the receiver coach at Arizona State.

Neuheisel was a walk-on quarterback who became the starter at UCLA in 1983, leading the Bruins to a 45-9 victory over Illinois in the ’84 Rose Bowl. He spent two seasons in the United States Football League and brief periods with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and San Diego Chargers.

He became a Bruin volunteer assistant for one season, working with then-redshirt quarterback Troy Aikman, then became a full-time assistant in 1988.