Rick Neuheisel's direct approach

After playing quarterback at UCLA, Bruin head coach Rick Neuheisel learned a different football skill: tackling.

Tackling his past.

Tackling his team's expectations.

Tackling the elephant in the corner (well, technically, across town).

Neuheisel hasn't been mincing many words since returning to Westwood this year. In fact, he's been extremely direct. For those new to Neuheisel, it doesn't necessarily gel with the reputation that preceded him.

College football is a sport in which reputation matters so much that national championships are awarded partially on style points. Hiring a coach once dubbed "Slick Rick" caused some serious hand-wringing. Columnists were leery. Reporters referenced past transgressions. UCLA fans, while excited for the coaching change, posted bulletin board messages that were tinged with trepidation.

Yet for the last few months, the slickest thing about Neuheisel might be how he seems to let it slide off his back. His charisma has lived up to expectations, but his candor has exceeded them.

According to people who were around Neuheisel over the years, he wasn't known as being evasive so much as, well, never mind ... it's probably something he wouldn't want anybody to talk about.

Or is it?

"It's hard," Neuheisel recently told ESPN's "Outside the Lines" about coaching problems he had that led to NCAA investigations at Washington and Colorado, "especially when you're living in the area where the debacle took place, to be reminded on a daily basis, whether it be the whispers of people in the grocery store or seeing another headline in a newspaper. It's a constant reminder that things have gone wrong."

He doesn't have a problem talking about it. Most people aren't that open on Facebook. This guy was on national TV.

In order to get to back to UCLA, Neuheisel was direct with his boss. Now that he's on campus, he has a healthier outlook and a better way of saying "I'm a man" than some other coaches. He just admits he's human. And moves on.

"I think probably the best lesson I can provide to young people is that none of us are perfect," Neuheisel said when asked about his personal growth. "None of us are going to get through this dance of life without getting a little nicked up. But how you deal with it, how you respond to it, really is what says everything about you."

So Neuheisel looks forward, and even with his signature "relentless optimism," he is realistic.

During a news conference this week, he talked about freshmen having to play substantial roles. "There will be growing pains. You don't have to wonder if there will be. There will be."

Asked about his biggest concern with this year's team, Neuheisel spoke about adversity. Then he added, "I think this group has a little chip on their shoulder, if you will. It feels like they've just been cast off as also-rans. It may very well be that's what comes to pass, but I don't think they like the notion of it, at least now. I think they're anxious to show we're more than that."

Sounds like he was managing expectations. Slick? Perhaps. But even if his answers are polished and/or motivated, it doesn't make them insincere. And they're certainly not indirect.

A follow-up question asked if he carried a chip on his own shoulder. "Most of my life, I have," he said. "I've been kind of a walk-on my whole life. You read the articles about me, it doesn't seem like that. 'Slick Rick' does not go with the walk-on connotation. But it is what it is."

In public appearances, Neuheisel's gift for gab may have overshadowed some of his earnestness. Many will continue to question whether his actions can match his words, but he has a clean slate at UCLA and is happy to be back. He feels that he was labeled because of his departures from previous jobs. Maybe that obscured this element of his personal style, but it's also given him an opportunity to develop it.

"I certainly have learned some lessons in this business about being direct," he said during an interview.

The Bruin coach has used those lessons to embrace the challenge of living in USC's shadow. At Pac-10 media day he told reporters, "They have done an unbelievable job. You can't be the head football coach at UCLA and not find a way to compete successfully with USC. You have to fight them on every corner." Neuheisel continued to talk about the Trojans throughout the preseason, though they won't play until the final game of the regular season.

Without his candor, it would have been harder for UCLA's marketing team to declare, "The football monopoly in Los Angeles is officially over."

UCLA has a long road to reach USC in college football Gloryville. If Neuheisel's actions can follow his words, at least his team will take the most direct road.

—Adam Rose