Rick Neuheisel R.I.P.

In a tongue-in-cheek post on Sept. 18 I joked that UCLA football coach Rick Neuheisel might survive the season. All joking aside, that's not going to happen.

He'll be lucky to still be coach on Friday. If I were athletic director Dan Guerrero, I would have canned him after that humiliating 48-12 loss to Arizona in Thursday night. Actually Guerrero should have sent him packing at halftime, after the team had been destroyed 42-7, surrendering over 400 yards in total offense. That drubbing, on national TV, is an ugly stain on the reputation of this respected program.

This was a critical game--one that was very winnable, especially with the team coming off a bye week. UCLA wasn't tackling a powerhouse, but rather a 1-5 weakling with a week-old coach and a ramshackle defense ranked 119th out of 120 among Division 1 schools. Losing to such a team is bad enough. Being blown out by this ragtag bunch is unforgivable.

That all-out brawl at the end of the first half was the last straw, a sure sign of an undisciplined team taking out its frustrations on an opponent. The players expended more energy in that fight than they did in the game. No question, Neuheisel has lost this team. They've tuned him out. They've bailed out. The curtain going down on that abysmal first half was also the curtain going down on his UCLA career.

Neuheisel has been cliff-hanging all season. He's been on the hot seat so long his fanny is in flames.

Enough. Get him out. This team will never get to a bowl game. It will never win another game with Neuheisel in charge. As a former UCLA student I declare him an embarrassment to the University.  Season ticket-holders should boycott the team and not attend another game until this stiff has been sacked.

Rick Neuheisel  R.I.P.