Neuheisel I: "the greatest thrill"

A wildly enthusiastic audience at the Morgan Center that included more than a dozen current and former players heard Rick Neuheisel speak and answer questions for about 45 minutes as he was formally introduced as the new Bruin head football coach.

Reflecting on his Bruin career that started as a walk-on and moved slowly toward his final game in which he was the Most Valuable Player of the 1984 Rose Bowl, he said "Today I stand before you experiencing the greatest thrill, to come back and be the head football coach at my alma mater, the greatest university in the land, UCLA."

Neuheisel brought all of the energy, enthusiasm and wit that was expected of him and broke up the audience repeatedly. He also received six ovations during his 12-minute opening remarks. Some highlights:

>> "I can’t thank you enough for that jersey [his no. 10, presented by Dan Guerrero]. It’s not the one I started with at UCLA. When I walked in 1979, they didn’t have a jersey for me, so I got 24X. 24, you’ll recall, for those of you who are great Bruin fans, was Freeman McNeil’s number. Now Freeman and I don’t get confused often, but we had the same number, 24, and then all of a sudden a young guy who was in my same freshman class, a guy by the name of Donnie Fisher went back to Port Arthur, Texas. He was homesick. And so I got his number and for the entire year I was Donnie Fisher, no. 20."

>> He had plenty of thanks to the Bruin coaches who came before him. Of Terry Donahue, for whom Neuheisel played and later became an assistant coach: "I owe him the greatest debt of gratitude, for getting me into this business, for believing in me as a player, believing in me as a coach and encouraging me to pursue this as a career.

"We’re going to try to take back the city in the same way you did in the early 80s and see if we can’t get ourselves into those New Year’s Day games on a regular basis, just like Terry Donahue did."

>> Of his immediate predecessor: "I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Karl Dorrell right now. Karl was a teammate and a great teammate. He wasn’t very talkative. He wore no. 8 and I wore no. 10, so our lockers were that close together and he was a sophomore before he said hello [big laugh in the room].

"I called him immediately upon hearing the news [of his hiring], before it had reached the public because I wanted to him to know that we’re going to carry on his legacy. He meant a great deal to this program and will always mean a great deal to this program. He’s a great man and a great leader and he’ll always be a Bruin. As long as I am in charge of this program, we are going to speak of Karl Dorrell in reverent tones."

>> Of Chancellor Gene Block and Guerrero, Neuheisel said that he appreciated that they were willing to look past his previous errors in judgment and thanked them for believing "that I can do this job and do it in a way that UCLA deserves it to be done, with the highest level of integrity and we can do it in a way that we can all enjoy it and be proud of it and also win, I can’t thank you enough. This is a dream come true for me and my family."

>> He thanked his family at length, starting with his wife Susan and thanking her for her support during five years of being in the football "wilderness." He said he told her that "Tough times don’t last, tough people do and that we were going to get through it." He introduced his three boys, Jerry, Jack and Joe, all of whom were nattily (if not comfortably) attired in khaki pants, white shirts, blue blazers and yellow striped ties.

He broke up the room again when he introduced his parents, Dick and Jane Neuheisel. "How about that, Dick and Jane. I was this close to being named Spot."

And of his sister Nancy, he remembered "We played [Arizona] in that Rose Bowl run in 1983 and we missed a field goal – I’m here to admit to John Lee it was a bad hold, my fault (laugh) – but Nancy was a cheerleader for U of A that day and she came over and even though her team won, she was sorry for me, so thanks for that. Nancy has finally found the error of her ways; she’s moved to California, so she lived here now. It’s a very big family thing for us, it’s home."

>> Of the actual job of being football coach, he said "It’s time now to get to work. I have a sense of calm about this because I have done it before.

"It’s going to be a very good fit for all of us. We’re going to have two rules. One rule is to get the job done, no matter it takes and the second rule is to enjoy each other’s company and laugh every day, because this is a special place.

"I ask for your patience in terms of all the things that need to be done, to make sure we set the foundation for this program, but fortunately for me, a lot of it is already in place, because of my predecessor and because of the fabric that is UCLA."

He ended his opening remarks by saying again "How excited I am to get about the task of taking back the City of Los Angeles and getting even with those guys across town."

Comments

[Peter]

Congratulations Bruins and Rick Neuheisel! When you look at all the hot coaches going to new teams, Rick has got to be considered right up there.

I don't understand the "Slick Rick" negativity I still hear, even from some of the news media. Any number of good, succesful coaches have run into NCAA trouble. Rick did it when he was much younger than most other head coaches, and if you were payng attention, the only problem was at Colorado. His UW problems were entirely the fault of the UW athletic department, whose guidelines Rick followed (thus the court settlement in Rick's favor).

Rick Neuheisel is a choice Bruins can get behind. Nothing is guaranteed, but I believe we will see an increase in spirit and even the monetary support the UCLA program needs to be successful.