Ex-Bruin Neuheisel Confident After Accepting Colorado Post

Rick Neuheisel was on the wildest ride of his life, emotions seemingly out of control but having to show that he was older than his 33 years.

His former boss, UCLA Coach Terry Donahue, watched from a distance and reminisced.

Only nine months removed from disappointment at not being named the Bruins’ offensive coordinator by Donahue, Neuheisel accepted the head coaching job at Colorado on Monday, replacing Bill McCartney, who resigned Nov. 19 to spend more time with his family.

“Well, it is going to be a new situation,” Neuheisel said. “It’s not something I’ve done before. But you know, there’s no book in the library on being a head coach. I’ve looked. I’m hoping I have what it takes to be successful. I’m confident I do, but there are going to be mistakes made along the way. Everybody makes them.”

Neuheisel is the youngest head coach in Division I football.

Nineteen years ago, Donahue was.

“I think that Rick’s situation at Colorado was very similar to mine at UCLA,” said Donahue, who added that he had spoken with Bill Marolt, Colorado’s athletic director, last week and recommended Neuheisel for the job.

“We had just come off a real good year, and when Dick Vermeil left (to coach the Philadelphia Eagles), the athletic director really wanted to maintain continuity in the program. J.D. Morgan could have gone out and hired a head coach, but the fact that he wanted to maintain continuity really gave me an opportunity.”

Fifth-ranked Colorado is 10-1 and will play Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl, which McCartney will coach.

Neuheisel had left the UCLA staff on Feb. 28 to coach receivers and quarterbacks at Colorado under Elliott Uzelac, the offensive coordinator and a candidate for the head coaching job.

“(Donahue) told me he believes it’s always good for a coach to go out and get a new perspective on coaching and how the game is played,” Neuheisel said. “It was a situation where I came and learned under a fantastic guy, Bill McCartney. My guys played fairly well. We’ve had a fantastic season with some fantastic moments, highlights.”

Throughout the season, Neuheisel was given credit for Colorado’s increasingly successful passing game, with quarterback Kordell Stewart and receiver Michael Westbrook praising his work in interviews that usually followed victories.

“The best thing that happened to me was when Tommy Prothro told me to leave UCLA and I went off to Kansas,” Donahue said. “I remembered that. It was the best thing that happened to me in terms of coaching because it made me learn another conference. It made me learn how people who aren’t at UCLA do business, and I thought Rick really needed that because his only coaching experience was with me and UCLA.”

Neuheisel had been a walk-on quarterback at UCLA, working to get the starting job in his senior season. He lost it to Steve Bono, then regained it in time to pass for 298 yards in a 45-9 victory over Illinois in the 1984 Rose Bowl.

After a brief time in pro football, he came back to coach quarterbacks, then receivers at UCLA for seven seasons before moving to Colorado.

Now, he has become the first of Donahue’s former players to get a head coaching job at a Division I school.

“Two things make you feel old,” said Donahue. “One is when you recruit kids and their fathers played for you, and two is when one of your players becomes a head coach.”