HUSKIES Game Day #5 - GoHuskies.com

HEAD COACH
When Rick Neuheisel attended the 1998 Rose Bowl, to be
inducted into its Hall of Fame, he took the time to enjoy the
moment and bask in the gala and pageantry of the college
football game known simply as “The Granddaddy of Them All.”
As he watched the shadows creep over the Arroyo Seco, and the
sun disappear into the western horizon, he turned to his wife, Susan,
and said, “We’ve got to get back here someday.”
It happened sooner than he expected.
Three years later Neuheisel was back in the Rose Bowl, hoisting
the championship trophy above his head to the delight of 40,000
Husky fans after Washington had dispatched Purdue’s Boilermakers
34-24.
After quarterbacking UCLA to a 45-9 victory against Illinois in the
1984 Rose Bowl, being inducted into the Hall of Fame, and coaching
the Huskies to their seventh Rose Bowl championship, Neuheisel will
long be considered one of the Rose Bowl’s favorite sons.
Neuheisel prefers to deflect the attention for Washington’s ascension
back to the top of the college football ranks over the past three
seasons. He will be the first one to credit his players and coaching
staff for making the commitment to return the Huskies to dominance.
When he first arrived in Seattle in January of 1999, Neuheisel
challenged the Huskies to forego any feeling-out process with a new
staff and simply make a commitment to winning.
Head coach Rick Neuheisel signals in a play during the the 2001 season.
12 HUSKIES Gameday
The results speak for themselves. During his first three years as a
Husky, Neuheisel’s teams have placed second, first and second in the
Pac-10 race. Washington has been ranked in the Associated Press
poll for every game during the past two seasons. The Huskies have
made two trips to the Holiday Bowl and one showing in the Rose
Bowl under Neuheisel.
Last year’s team posted a 8-4 record that included six wins at
Husky Stadium to extend the Huskies’ current home winning streak
to 14 games. A young Husky squad faced five teams that were ranked
in the final Associated Press Poll and picked up wins against three of
those opponents.
Neuheisel’s second Husky squad, the 2000 team, posted the first
10-win season since the 1991 Huskies went 12-0 en route to the
national championship. It was Washington’s first Rose Bowl title in 10
years and its first Rose Bowl appearance since 1992.
The 2000 Huskies were a remarkable team. Washington trailed in
eight of its 11 wins, showing incredible resilience and heart, not to
mention strategy, in pulling off five consecutive fourth-quarter comebacks
in a row.
For his efforts, Neuheisel was listed as a finalist for coach of the
year by several different media outlets.
In 1999, his first season as the head football coach at Washington,
Neuheisel accomplished something that none of his predecessors
achieved. He guided the Huskies to a 7-5 record, including an invitation
to the 1999 Culligan Holiday Bowl, becoming the first UW coach
to take the team to a bowl game during his inaugural season.
Husky football fans and casual sports followers alike have quickly
embraced Neuheisel for the spark he has added to Washington’s storied
football tradition. As a public speaker, he is in high demand.
Neuheisel has spoken at numerous fundraising events and generated
lofty contributions with his charismatic speeches and penchant for
innovative fundraising ideas.
Neuheisel took over the Washington program in January of 1999
after serving as the head football coach at Colorado from 1995 to
1998. His six-year coaching record now stands at 59-24 (.711).
Washington is the second head coaching position for the 41-year
old Neuheisel, who spent seven seasons as an assistant coach prior to
securing the Colorado job. He worked six years at his alma mater,
UCLA, under his college coach Terry Donahue, and was an assistant
coach for one season on Bill McCartney’s staff in Boulder. He was
named the head coach at Colorado on Nov. 29, 1994.
At Colorado, Neuheisel compiled a 33-14 (.702) record and was
3-0 in postseason bowl games. All three of his bowl games were
against Pac-10 Conference opponents. He had 20 wins in his first two
seasons as a college coach, which tied for the fourth-most by a firsttime
college coach in the Division I-A modern era. Both of those
Colorado teams finished in the top-10 of the national polls.
Neuheisel had a number of “firsts”
while coaching the Buffaloes:
• He became the first first-year Colorado coach to take a team to
a bowl game.
• The team’s 10 wins in 1995 were the most ever by a first-year CU
coach.
• The Buffaloes’ No. 4 ranking in the USA Today standings and No. 5
ranking in the final Associated Press poll were the eighth-highest
rankings ever for a first-year coach.
• Neuheisel’s 10 wins his first year tied for the fifth-most by a rookie.
• The 1996 Colorado team set a school record by winning 10
consecutive road games.