Originally Posted by
Olympic Fan
This is so much BS that it makes me want to hurl.
I definitely favor giving people second chances. But the accumulation of Neuheisal's transgressions has him on his umpteenth chance so far.
Start with the 51 violations at Colorado. Yes, many of them were minor -- some were not. But the total accumulation of violations is a concern and did earn Colorado two years of probation.
If that was it, I could see giving him a second chance.
Did Neuheisal learn from his mistakes and admit his errors?
Well, no, as soon as he arrived at Washington, he was caught making illegal contacts with recruits during a dead period. Not only that, he contacted several players who had committed to him at Colorado and tried to lure them to Washington instead -- not in itself an NCAA violation (except the contacts occurred during a dead period), but a breach of coaching ethics.
The University of Washington admitted the violations and imposed its own recruiting sanctions of Neuheisal, reducing his allowed off-campus visits from 29 to 9. Neuheisal later brags about how he "creatively" got around the penalty (his favorite trick was to drive past a player's house, use his cell phone to call the kid out and have a "bump")
On Jan. 9, 2003, Neuheisal is officially censured by the American Football Coaches Association for "lack of remorse" for his documented recruiting violations (so much from learning from your mistakes). Neuheisal brags again that when it comes to the rules, he's not a cheater, hut "creative".
A month later (just after signing day), Neuheisal is linked in print to the San Francisco 49ers coaching job. Neuheisal flat out lies to the media, denying any contact and any interest in the job. It turns out that he was lying ... which is not any kind of violation, but it's also reported (but not confirmed) that Neuheisal lied to his bosses at UW. The University President gives a weird interview where he refuses to address the question and also refuses to discuss whether the university considered firing him over the incident.
It's two months later when the NCAA betting pool story explodes. While it is a clear NCAA violation, Neuheisal's defense is that he got permission from the school's compliance officer to participate (although the school's compliance officer does not have the right to give that permission).
He's where it gets hairy. This fact is not in dispute: When first confronted by an NCAA investigator, Neuheisal lied about his participation in the pool. It's not clear whether he initially lied to Washington officials or not -- but eight days after lying to the NCAA, Neuheisal was suspended and given termination notice at Washington.
Later, he sued the university of Washington for wrongful termination. The lawsuit was settled ... he did NOT win the lawsuit and he was NOT exonerated.
Seriously, the level of denial about this guy's long track record of dishonesty reminds me of Carolina fans who keep trying to convince themselves that Larry Brown never cheated and it wasn't his fault that he got UCLA and Kansas both put on probation.
And for what? Neuheisal inherited a Colorado program that was at the top after Bill McCartney's tenure ... after back-to-back 10-2 records with McCartney's players, he went 5-6 and 8-4 the next two years. At Washington, he inherited a program that had dominated the Pac 10 most of the 90s and had one great season -- an 11-1 Rose Bowl year. His other three years were 22-15 -- finishing with a 7-6 mark in his last two seasons.
Both times he's been a head coach he lied and cheated. Both programs he headed were worse off at the end of his tenure than when he took over.
To quote Jonathan Chait of Slate Magazine:
"The real crime, though, is not that Neuheisel was fired. It's that he was
fired in such a way as to preserve his reputation. Here is a man so richly
deserving of a pink slip that his dismissal on such minor grounds leaves a
sour taste. It's sort of like nabbing Al Capone for tax evasion. They got
the right guy for the wrong reason."
There's a reason his alma mater, UCLA, refuses to consider this guy. There's a reason Georgia Tech refused to interview him.
I pray that Duke has the same good sense.