Free Republic

UCLA has fired coach Rick Neuheisel after four 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, the school announced Monday. Offensive coordinator Mike Johnson will be the Bruins' interim coach if they earn a bowl berth. Neuheisel is 21-28 since taking over the program in 2008, never building the momentum he needed to reach his goal of challenging Southern California for city supremacy. UCLA made it to just one bowl game in his first three seasons, winning the EagleBank Bowl in Washington, D.C.,...

When Curtis Williams took the field for the Huskies' 2000 season opener, the University of Washington's media guide described him like this: Senior, strong safety, 5-foot-10, 200 pounds. Named, in 1999, the team's best hitter. Led team in solo tackles. Went to high school in Fresno, Calif., where he was a top recruit. The seventh of eight kids. Pursuing a degree in American ethnic studies. Here's what the media guide didn't say: When Williams played against Idaho, he had a warrant out for his arrest. He'd been arrested every year he was here: 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000. He was...

SEATTLE -- Rick Neuheisel is out as Washington's football coach, less than a week after acknowledging betting on the NCAA basketball tournament. "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 told KING-TV on Wednesday night. "I am not the guy they're portraying me to be," he said. "I'll find new challenges. I will hopefully scale new ladders." Athletic department spokesman Jim Daves said a news conference was scheduled for Thursday (1 p.m. ET). He didn't disclose further details. The NCAA prohibits coaches from...

Washington quarterback Cody Pickett plans to leave this morning for a seven-hour drive to his home in Caldwell, Idaho. When he returns in a couple of weeks, he said he hopes Rick Neuheisel will still be his football coach. "He's our coach right now, and we expect him to be there (once the season starts)," Pickett said yesterday. But UW officials could decide as soon as today that Neuheisel will no longer be Washington's football coach and that an interim coach — likely either offensive coordinator Keith Gilbertson or longtime defensive-line coach Randy Hart — will take over for next...