Dogged Dawg: Still on the job, Neuheisel awaits decision on future (follow up from 6/5/03 story)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/home/ ^ | June 6, 2003 | Bob Confdatta

[eeman]

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 season.

UW athletic director Barbara Hedges was holed up in meetings with school officials most of yesterday discussing Wednesday's bombshell revelation that Neuheisel was being investigated by the NCAA for his involvement in a college-basketball pool in which he and his three partners may have won as much as $20,000. Any form of gambling by a college coach on college sports is prohibited by the NCAA and can be considered a major violation.

"We're just still gathering information trying to assess and evaluate," said Norm Arkans, the school's associate vice president for external affairs. "We're trying to figure things out. That doesn't happen in one day."

Most around the program, however, are assuming that Neuheisel will be fired, maybe as soon as today, and that the school is simply being careful in its deliberations. The NCAA holds an especially dim view of gambling, and it's being speculated that Neuheisel could be suspended by the organization for a year or two, which would essentially make the decision for UW.

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What Alexis and many others seemed most shocked about is that Neuheisel got himself in this mess. Coaches and players are told often that gambling is off-limits, and posters in UW's locker room detail the rules.

"I know the rules," Alexis said.

[eeman]

From the report: What Alexis and many others seemed most shocked about is that Neuheisel got himself in this mess. Coaches and players are told often that gambling is off-limits, and posters in UW's locker room detail the rules.

Slick Rick pleaded ignorance on the rules about collegiate gambling. This is another shining example of his disingenuous behaviors

[Mister Magoo]

He knew about the rules. But the rules are silly. The obvious intent is to prohibit gambling on your own sport, and in particular, on or against your own team. Neuheisel did not do that. He wagered on an NCAA tournament pool, like about 50 million other red-blooded Americans. I'm on board with Rick, and if they fire him for this, another team will snap him up immediately.

[Pres Raygun]

There is another reason to prohibit gambling by coaches and players and that is to remove a convenient way for boosters to funnel money to coaches and players. I wonder if Coach Rick has informed the IRS of his winnings.

[eeman]

The rules may or may not be silly. But the rules do exist and they are blatantly in sight for everyone to see. Neuheisel did not argue that the rules were silly. He pleaded ignorance of them as his defense. That is hard to do when your staff has posted the rules all over the locker room.

If you read the article, the sports writer said that he may be on NCAA probation for 2-3 years. Unless the writer is blowing smoke, I doubt he will have another college coaching job right away. He will probably take some assistant job in the NFL (my speculation).

[eeman]

Precisely. If any of us working stiffs got canned because of violating some "silly" office policy, no one would come to our defense. Why should he be any different?

[bigfootbob]

You're right. I can't believe the hypocritical feeding frenzy about a March Madness pool.

The NCAA needs a forced reformation. I wish GWB would declare the NCAA a terrorist organization. Bust them on RICO, WOD, Patriot Act I, II, assign the case to John Walters and General Ashcroft himself!

Coach Neuheisel will parlay this into an NFL coaching position. This is a series scandal...(not). It has inserted Rick's name into NFL GM's craniums.

Think about it, who snitched to the NCAA about a private B-ball pool? Perhaps Rick himself?

[Mister Magoo]

Obviously he knew the rules. He has a law degree. But don't buy in to that tired old "the rules are the rules" cliche. I'm sure the Baath Party in Iraq had lots of rules, too. Neuheisel didn't do anything that affected his football team, directly or indirectly. And for that matter, neither did Price, nor Eustachy. They did nothing illegal. I'm getting sick and tired of the morality police looking to tar and feather good people for getting drunk or winning a betting pool.

[NittanyLion]

The NCAA needs a forced reformation.

Yeah! What the NCAA needs is MORE gambling, not less!

[bigfootbob]

"What the NCAA needs is MORE gambling, not less!"

I didn't mean to imply that. The NCAA mission statement needs revision. There's much more wrong with the NCAA than this narrow issue illustrates.

[eeman]

I agree with you to a point about the gambling rules being excessive. However I see them as a contractual obligation of the position Neuheisel assumed. Whether a prospective employee thinks the rules are silly or not, that person has essentially agreed to abide by those rules when he or she signs an employment agreement.

I respectfully disagree that these type of infractions at some level do not distract the players or the coaches from performing at their best. Even if issues are absurd or hypocritical, the reality is that these issues will fester as long as he is coaching at UW. Therefore, I think they have to cut their losses and move on.

[Mister Magoo]

[eeman]

Very good! ;) However, that reminds me of the argument that we should not have impeached Clinton because his poll numbers were so high, but I don't want to go down that line of argument. Where did you get that poll from, by the way?

[Mister Magoo]

espn.com