Ricky is gone!

[El Supremo]

UCLA fires Rick Neuheisel; will coach Pac-12 title

LOS ANGELES (AP)—UCLA fired coach Rick Neuheisel on Monday after four disappointing seasons in charge of his alma mater.

Neuheisel will be allowed to coach the Bruins (6-6, 5-4 Pac-12) in Friday’s Pac-12 title game at Oregon, athletic director Dan Guerrero announced. Offensive coordinator Mike Johnson will be the Bruins’ interim coach if they receive a bowl berth.

Neuheisel is 21-28 since taking over the program in December 2007, never building the momentum he needed to reach his goal of challenging Southern California for city supremacy. Guerrero fired Neuheisel two days after UCLA’s 50-0 loss to No. 9 USC, the Bruins’ largest loss since 1930 in their crosstown rivalry game.

“I thanked Dan for the opportunity,” Neuheisel said on the Pac-12’s promotional teleconference for the title game, less than an hour after his firing was announced. “I don’t need reasons. Certainly when you’re UCLA coach, you’d like to play better against USC. When you lose in the fashion we did, that’s a difficult pill to swallow.”

the rest at: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ap-ucla-neuheiselfired


I loved Drew Litton's take on him being hired in the first place:

[joeybee12]

1. Can you imagine if they beat Oregon?

Will they ask him back?

[WheelWalker]

2. Go to your room !

[hughee99]

4. If they beat Oregon, they go to the Rose Bowl.

Can you imagine UCLA firing a coach the year they win the Rose Bowl? It's just a big "what if" though since it will never happen.

So much for the Pac-10 champ getting any kind of BCS bump for winning a championship game. UCLA isn't even currently bowl eligible. I'm sure in future years, this mess will prove to be an anomaly, though. In the future, it SHOULD be helpful.

[KamaAina]

3. "if they receive a bowl berth"?!

Barring a monumental upset of Oregon, and the ensuing BCS bid, they would have a losing record of 6-7 and would need an NCAA waiver to compete in a bowl.

[Capt. America]

5. UCLA needs to get back in the game. They SHOULD be able to recruit to SoCal

just as well as USuCk.