Rick Neuheisel Fired at UCLA, Effective After the Pac-12 Championship Game

Hours after UCLA lost to arch-rival USC 50-0 at the Coliseum, Jon Gold of the Daily News is reporting that sources close to UCLA AD Dan Guerrero have indicated that he has finally decided to pull the trigger on head coach Rick Neuheisel, relieving him of his duties after the Bruins travel to Eugene to face Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship Game on Friday night. Here’s what Gold is reporting:

"Multiple sources close to the program are indicating UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel will be relieved of his duties following the team’s appearance in the Pacific-12 Conference championship game Friday. Dan Guerrero said Saturday night that Neuheisel would coach against the Ducks but would not elaborate further after calling the loss “devastating.”“He’s carried this program all year long; I indicated we’d evaluate this program at the end of the season,” Guerrero said. “We have one game left and we’ll do that.”If UCLA loses at Oregon, the Bruins would technically be ineligible for a bowl game at 6-7, but the conference is able to apply for a waiver with the NCAA to get the team into the postseason. “We’re talking to the conference office this week to see what options are in that regard,” Guerrero said."

The move signals two inital thoughts. One, Guerrero has already thrown in the towel on the chances of UCLA beating Oregon. If it’s true that he’s already decided to fire Neuheisel and has allowed the news to leak, it throws his comments to the LA Times after the game out the window. This is from the Times’ Chris Foster:

"As to whether getting to the Rose Bowl would be enough to save Neuheisel’s job, Guerrero said, “That we’re preparing to play for the Rose Bowl should be exciting to all Bruin fans.”"

If in fact Guerrero has already axed Coach Neu, his comments about being excited about the Rose Bowl are asinine, given the fact that any slim chance the Bruins had of upsetting Oregon are now thrown out the window, because there’s no chance that a lame duck head coach who’s already been fired will get a solid effort from his team, despite the consequences of the game. The guys over at BruinsNation crucified Guerrero over his comments, and are calling for a total regime change, from Chancellor Gene Block, down.

This leads me back to the second thought the firing brings to mind: just how ill-timed it is. Guerrero had his chance to make the move after the “Debacle in the Desert” last month, but passed it up. Neuheisel won two games against what have turned out to be two under-performing teams (Cal and Arizona State), and Guerrero seemingly excused the poor performances against Texas and Arizona. Then the loss in Salt Lake City two weeks ago reiterated the need for change, and has forced Guerrero to throw a fired coach into the fire on national television at the nation’s most hostile venue, Autzen Stadiumn in Eugene. That’s some really poorly thought out decision making from a guy who’s running one of the most sought out Athletic Director jobs in the nation.

We’ll have more as it breaks, and leave your thoughts on the pending dismal of Rick Neuheisel below.

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