Rick Neuheisel out, pending appeal.

[Agent_Bond34 0]

Credit - ESPN.com

 

SEATTLE -- Rick Neuheisel will be fired as Washington's football coach for betting on NCAA basketball tournaments and lying to school officials about it, athletic director Barbara Hedges said Thursday.

 

Neuheisel notables

June '03: Gambled in NCAA basketball pool*

 

February '03: Lied about interview with 49ers

 

October '02: Penalized for Colorado violations

 

February '02: Reprimanded by Pac-10 for comments

 

June 1999: Had off-campus visits reduced for making improper visits to five recruits

*Gambling took place in March of '02 and '03.

 

 

 

Hedges said she has started the process of firing Neuheisel "for just cause."

 

Neuheisel, who acknowledged to NCAA investigators he bet on the tournaments, has until June 26 to respond to the notice of termination. He is on paid suspension in the meantime.

 

A decision on a new coach will be announced in a few days, Hedges said.

 

Husky offensive coordinator Keith Gilbertson, widely expected to take over as interim coach, didn't want to talk about that possibility on Thursday.

 

Gilbertson, 55, has more than 30 years of coaching experience in college and professional football, serving as head coach at California from 1992-95 and at Idaho from 1986-88.

 

"I have no official comment except that I don't have a boss," Gilbertson told The Associated Press. "I feel terrible about him."

 

Hedges said she took the action against Neuheisel "with deep regret," but that his actions and his initial denial required her to act.

 

"Rick's actions have left me little choice and have seriously undermined his ability to remain as head football coach at the university," she said.

 

Neuheisel could not immediately be reached Thursday for comment. He said in an interview Wednesday night with KING-TV that he had been dismissed.

 

"This is a sad night for me because I've poured a lot of myself into this job -- and it was a great job," Neuheisel said.

 

"I am not the guy they're portraying me to be," he said. "I'll find new challenges. I will hopefully scale new ladders."

 

The NCAA prohibits coaches from gambling on college sports.

 

Neuheisel admitted last week he had placed bets with neighbors on the NCAA Tournament over the past two years, an action that NCAA president Myles Brand called "totally unacceptable behavior."

 

Neuheisel insisted he didn't believe he had broken NCAA rules because it was an informal off-campus pool. He also claimed an e-mail from the athletic department's compliance director gave him permission to participate.

 

It was the final episode for the 42-year-old Neuheisel after a series of brushes with trouble during his 4½-year tenure at Washington and, before that, for four seasons at Colorado.

 

Last fall, the NCAA banned Neuheisel from off-campus recruiting through this spring as punishment for 51 secondary rules violations at Colorado. The American Football Coaches Association later censured him for showing a lack of remorse.

 

Earlier this year, Neuheisel secretly interviewed with the San Francisco 49ers for their then-vacant coaching job but released a statement denying he had done so. He later admitted he had lied.

 

Neuheisel was the latest coach exposed in a string of embarrassing episodes.

 

 

Mike Price, Neuheisel's former cross-state rival coach at Washington State, was fired as Alabama's coach on May 3 after he reportedly visited a topless bar and a woman billed about $1,000 worth of room service to his hotel room the next morning.

 

 

Larry Eustachy resigned as Iowa State's basketball coach on May 5, one week after publication of photographs showing him partying at an apartment in Columbia, Mo., after Iowa State's Jan. 21 loss.

 

 

Jim Harrick Jr., son of former Georgia head coach Jim Harrick, was fired in March after an academic fraud scandal. His father resigned later that month but probably would have been forced out.

 

Neuheisel's charismatic, easygoing manner has been well-documented, too.

 

He was known for taking Colorado players on rafting trips and sometimes played a guitar in the locker room. He had pop music pumped through the Husky Stadium loudspeakers during practice.

 

Neuheisel was hailed for his 11-1 record and Rose Bowl title after the 2000 season and, the following season, his sensitive handling of the paralysis and subsequent death of safety Curtis Williams.

 

Asked whether it had hit him that he's no longer coach of the Huskies, he said Wednesday: "I didn't want to think about it during the fight during this last week because I thought it would derail my efforts.

 

"So I'm probably not dealing with reality, but the facts are the facts, and we deal with them."

 

Neuheisel was 33-16 at Washington after going 33-14 in four seasons at Colorado.

 

Picked by Colorado at 34 to succeed the retired Bill McCartney. Neuheisel went 10-2 in each of his first two seasons and 13-10 the next two. He joined Washington for the 1999 season, replacing the fired Jim Lambright.

 

More than three years later, in October 2002, the NCAA placed Colorado on two years' probation, reduced the number of its scholarships and restricted off-campus recruiting by coaches because of 51 secondary rules violations.

 

All but two occurred while Neuheisel was coach. His punishment was a seven-month ban on off-campus recruiting. The American Football Coaches Association later censured him for showing a lack of remorse.

 

Gary Barnett, Neuheisel's successor at Colorado, unsuccessfully argued that all the penalties should follow Neuheisel. It wasn't the first time Barnett found fault with his predecessor.

 

In February 2002, Barnett suggested that Neuheisel had tampered with Colorado's roster by phoning some of his former players shortly after taking the Washington job. Neuheisel said he was merely saying goodbye.

 

A Colorado spokesman did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press.

[Guest Smues]

"February '03: Lied about interview with 49ers"

 

Whoopidy doo. How many coaches don't lie about talking to other teams?

[Guest Vern Gagne]

"February '03: Lied about interview with 49ers"

 

Whoopidy doo. How many coaches don't lie about talking to other teams?

Most coaches don't lie about being interviewed with a different team. They either bail on the team, or sign a contract extension with the school.

[Guest Hogan Made Wrestling]

The NCAA is rivaling the IOC as the most overregulated sporting body in the world. A coach from one sport can't bet on games in another sport? What exactly is this sort of rule supposed to accomplish?