In an expected move, UCLA named Ravens offensive coordinator Rick Neuheisel their head coach Saturday.
Neuheisel, who played for the Bruins during the early 1980s and was the MVP-winning quarterback of the 1984 Rose Bowl, spent two seasons with the Ravens as quarterbacks coach before being promoted to offensive coordinator this past January.
“I am thrilled to be returning to my alma mater as its head coach,” Neuheisel said in a statement released by the school. “UCLA is a special place and I want to thank [athletic director] Dan Guerrero and Chancellor (Gene) Block for the opportunity to come home. We are going to build a program our supporters will be proud of, both on and off the field. I can’t wait to get started.”
This will not be Neuheisel?s first stint as a college head coach. He spent eight combined years at the Universities of Colorado and Washington, racking up 66 combined wins. Still, controversy followed the celebrated offensive-minded coach. Recruiting violations at Colorado and his participation in a high-priced NCAA basketball pool led to his firing at Washington in 2003.
“It has been at least five years and, in some cases, more than 10 years since the incidents occurred,” Guerrero said. We believe Rick has learned from those incidents and that he is more mature and experienced in the areas of compliance.”
The Ravens had not yet released a statement on Neuheisel?s departure Saturday evening, but coach Brian Billick recently said he supported his coordinator?s search for a college job.
Billick had also said that if Neuheisel was hired, he did not expect him to finish out the season with the team. The Ravens host the Steelers Sunday at 4:15 p.m. in their season finale.
