Neuheisel Rejects Job Offer by UCLA : College football: Colorado coach says his values won’t allow him to leave Buffaloes after one season. Northwestern’s Barnett also out of the running.

Monday, Terry Donahue turned down the chance to remain UCLA’s football coach. Tuesday, Rick Neuheisel turned down the chance to replace him.

Moving rapidly to fill the vacancy created by Donahue’s move to the CBS-TV broadcast booth, UCLA Athletic Director Peter Dalis made what the 34-year-old Neuheisel termed “an attractive offer” Tuesday afternoon, but Neuheisel told Dalis he couldn’t leave the University of Colorado after only one season there as head football coach.

“I was their first choice,” Neuheisel, speaking to the Rocky Mountain News, said of the Bruins. “I don’t know if they would tell the [other candidates] that.”

Those candidates reportedly include Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti, Kansas State Coach Bill Snyder, Denver Bronco defensive coordinator Greg Robinson and UCLA assistants Bob Field and Bob Toledo. Northwestern Coach Gary Barnett took himself out of the running for the University of Georgia job Tuesday, and apparently all others, saying he is “in serious negotiations with Northwestern University for a long-term contract and they are being very fair with me.” But, if those negotiations don’t go well, look for Barnett, whom Donahue calls “the hottest product in college football today,” to remain on Dalis’ list.

Neuheisel, a former UCLA quarterback and assistant coach, signed a one-year contract with Colorado before the season for a base salary of $130,000, but with bonuses that can push the amount to $275,000. Although Colorado law forbids state employees from signing contracts of longer duration, Neuheisel made a verbal agreement to stay five years.

It is believed that UCLA was offering around $300,000, about $60,000 less than it was paying Donahue, who was the school’s coach for 20 years.

“This has never been about money,” Neuheisel said. “I’m very fond of my alma mater. I still have a lot of friends there. But I’m happy here and I just couldn’t see myself leaving.”

Dalis made no effort to downplay the Bruins’ interest in Neuheisel.

“Rick is somebody with a great number of UCLA ties and someone our fans and supporters were obviously interested in pursuing,” Dalis said. “I am disappointed that he is not interested in the position.”

A year ago, Neuheisel might well have been camped outside Dalis’ door once the Bruin job opened up. He seemed the heir apparent to Donahue, a man whose past mirrored his own in many ways. Both were walk-ons in the Bruin program. Donahue started out as a 175-pound defensive tackle, Neuheisel as a holder for kicker John Lee.

But before they were done, both had made their mark, Donahue as a two-year starter, Neuheisel as the most valuable player in the 1984 Rose Bowl. Neuheisel went on to play with the San Antonio Gunslingers of the United States Football League and the San Diego Chargers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL before returning to UCLA as an assistant coach. He stayed in Westwood six seasons before coming to Colorado as quarterbacks and receivers coach. One year later, he succeeded Bill McCartney as the head coach and has led the Buffaloes to a 9-2 mark this season and a spot in the Cotton Bowl.

Neuheisel said the idea of quitting so soon at Colorado was against his basic values.

“That was the key to my success at UCLA,” he said. “I walked on, I worked hard, and I wanted to finish what I started.”

Dalis was on the phone to Colorado just several hours after Donahue told a crowd of approximately 200 media members and well-wishers that he was calling it a career after 20 years on the job.

Neuheisel and Dalis spoke by phone after the Buffaloes’ Tuesday afternoon practice. Neuheisel had originally said he’d listen to the UCLA athletic director, discuss the conversation with his wife, Susan, sleep on it and perhaps have a decision by today.

Instead, Neuheisel said, he acted immediately because he did not wish to throw any more confusion into a program that is facing its biggest recruiting drive this weekend when 30 to 35 prospects will be coming to Boulder.

So for Neuheisel, the prospect of coming home to Westwood ended before it started.

For Dalis, the prospect of getting a new coach is just starting with no end in sight.