Guerrero cites lack of improvement, decreased attendance in firing of Rick Neuheisel

Rick Neuheisel was fired from his position as coach of the UCLA football team on Monday, Athletic Director Dan Guerrero announced.

Neuheisel, who is 21-28 in his four years as coach, will coach his final game on Friday when the 6-6 Bruins take on the No. 8 Oregon Ducks in the Pac-12 Championship game.

Offensive coordinator Mike Johnson will serve as interim coach in a potential bowl game while Guerrero searches for Neuheisel’s replacement.

“Decisions like this are never easy, particularly with one of your own,” Guerrero said of the former UCLA quarterback and assistant coach. “There’s always pain and heartache involved. Rick is a great Bruin, but there was no doubt about the fact that I felt this move was necessary at this time.”

Neuheisel will not fulfill the five-year contract he received when he started at UCLA in 2008 but will receive a $250,000 buyout from the university. Neuheisel said he was told he only had to “move the needle” this season to improve on a 4-8 record in 2010 and maintains that the program was moving in the right direction, citing a 5-4 record in conference play.

Guerrero says otherwise. Neuheisel never finished a regular season with a winning record ““ going 4-8 in years one and three and 6-6 in years two and four ““ and only beat three teams that finished with winning records.

“There are a number of things that come into play,” Guerrero said when prompted for a reason. “The bottom line is the last two years of his tenure were similar to his first two years. He wasn’t moving the needle enough.”

Guerrero has already requested a waiver from the NCAA that would allow UCLA to play in a bowl game at 6-7, assuming the 30-point underdog Bruins lose to the Ducks on Friday in Eugene, Ore. A win means the Rose Bowl. A loss could mean no bowl. Either way, Neuheisel will not be a part of the conversation. Johnson would lead the team in bowl practices during the coaching search, a role that he refuses to think about until it is upon him.

“I like dealing with one thing at a time,” Johnson said Tuesday. “I don’t look ahead. Right now, I’m the offensive coordinator, and I’m going to do my best job on Friday night.”

“I’ve developed a good relationship with coach Johnson this year,” redshirt junior quarterback Kevin Prince added. “He’s a great coach.”

It’s now up to Prince and several other leaders on the roster to attempt to keep the team together. Guerrero gave the news to several players on Monday morning. Those with class conflicts were left to find out by reading the news elsewhere.

“I heard via ESPN before the meeting had happened and my phone was blowing up,” redshirt junior tight end Joseph Fauria said. “It hurt to hear it that way. It’s upsetting that a guy that I like and respect has to leave in an untimely fashion, so close to a championship game with his team.”

Many players said the news was unexpected, but during the meeting, Guerrero asked them to raise their hands if they came to UCLA to go 6-6.

“That’s the business of it,” Prince said. “You have to win games, and unfortunately, we didn’t win enough.”

Although UCLA’s 6-6 record this season looks like a sign of progress, the losses and wins alike have been ugly. Five of those losses have come by 25 points or more. A brawl broke out shortly before halftime of a 48-12 loss to Arizona and the team’s 31-6 loss to Utah featured 12 penalties. Neuheisel was 0-4 against USC and suffered the worst loss in its crosstown rivalry since 1930 on Saturday, a 50-0 blowout.

“I’ve got my opinions,” said a teary-eyed Neuheisel on Monday, when asked what went wrong. “I know at the end of the day, this is a business, and there is a productivity that’s required in this business to stay in this business. I respect that.”

That college football is a business could be the very thing that did Neuheisel in. Guerrero cited a 25 percent drop in attendance over Neuheisel’s four seasons as a factor in the decision.

“Football is the economic drive of this department,” Guerrero said. “It supports every program, and resources are important in that regard. Having your fans at games is important.”

A lack of support for Neuheisel on campus was made no clearer than when fewer than 20 students showed up to De Neve Auditorium on May 26 for “Meet Coach Neuheisel,” a forum facilitated by the Athletics Department.

At the meet-and-greet, Neuheisel’s slideshow presentation was hurried by a facilities manager, preempting his time with no other programming scheduled to follow.

His time may be cut short again but someone ““ Boise State’s Chris Peterson and Houston’s Kevin Sumlin are among the potential replacements ““ will follow Neuheisel this time. Guerrero said he will “cast the net broadly” when looking for a replacement. This will be Guerrero’s third football coaching hire in his nine years as athletic director. He will work with a consultant to evaluate the candidates, a process which started Monday.

Guerrero said he has more “financial ammunition” and is in a “different league” financially this time around than he did when making the previous two hires. He has UCLA’s share of the $2.7 billion-dollar Pac-12 TV deal inked in May with ESPN and Fox, as well as support from external donors to make a run at a new coach.

“I’m looking for someone that can command the respect of his players and coaches, that has strong organizational skills, that has an identity and can have that translate into success here,” Guerrero said.

Neuheisel may not have always demonstrated those traits during his four years as coach, but ever the optimist, he remains positive in anticipation of his last game on the UCLA sideline.

“We’re within a game of achieving what we all set out to do,” Neuheisel said. “It would be like not putting the flag on top of the mountain if you are that close, so I’m thankful for the opporunity to finish, and I’ll leave here with great memories.

“I don’t give up on my career as a coach,” he added. “I’m a good coach. I’ve proven it, and I’ll prove it again. Coaches need all of their ducks in a row to be successful. I’ll lay down and bleed a while and raise up and fight again.”