Rick Neuheisel
Rick Neuheisel went 87–59 as a head coach, 1995–2011, at Colorado, Washington and UCLA. Share
- Record
- 87–59 career
- Seasons
- 12
- Schools
- 3
- Final AP top 10
- 3 seasons
- Best season
- 2000 11–1, No. 3
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Colorado | 10–2 | T–2nd | Cotton Bowl W | 5 | |
| 1996 | Colorado | 10–2 | 2nd (North) | Holiday Bowl W | 8 | |
| 1997 | Colorado | 5–6 | T–4th (North) | |||
| 1998 | Colorado | 8–4 | 4th (North) | Aloha Bowl W | ||
| 1999 | Washington | 7–5 | 2nd | Holiday Bowl L | ||
| 2000 | Washington | 11–1 | T–1st | Rose Bowl W | 3 | |
| 2001 | Washington | 8–4 | T–2nd | Holiday Bowl L | 19 | |
| 2002 | Washington | 7–6 | T–4th | Sun Bowl L | ||
| 2003–07: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2008 | UCLA | 4–8 | 8th | |||
| 2009 | UCLA | 7–6 | 8th | EagleBank Bowl W | ||
| 2010 | UCLA | 4–8 | 9th | |||
| 2011 | UCLA | 6–7 | 1st (South) | Fight Hunger L | ||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Matt Russell1996 Butkus Award- Bryan StoltenbergConsensus All‑American, 1995
- Rae CarruthNo. 27 pick, 1997
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 56 | 24–32 | 43% |
| Against top-10 teams | 23 | 9–14 | 39% |
| Against rivals | 31 | 14–17 | 45% |
| Conference games | 99 | 55–44 | 56% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 8 | 5–3 | 63% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 56 | 36–20 | 64% |
| At home | 74 | 53–21 | 72% |
| On the road | 62 | 28–34 | 45% |
| At neutral sites | 10 | 6–4 | 60% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 83 | 68–15 | 82% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 63 | 19–44 | 30% |
His own 146 games on file, 1995–2011, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis Erickson 1999–2011 | 5–3 | Oregon State, Arizona State | 8 | |
| Bill Snyder 1995–2010 | 3–4 | Kansas State | 7 | |
| Mike Bellotti 1995–2008 | 4–2 | Oregon | 6 | |
| Mike Price 1996–2002 | 5–0 | Washington State | 5 | |
| Jeff Tedford 2002–2011 | 1–4 | California | 5 | |
| Dan McCarney 1995–1998 | 4–0 | Iowa State | 4 | |
| Sonny Lubick 1995–1998 | 4–0 | Colorado State | 4 | |
| John Mackovic 1996–2002 | 4–0 | Texas, Arizona | 4 | |
| Tyrone Willingham 1999–2008 | 4–0 | Stanford, Washington | 4 | |
| Paul Wulff 2008–2011 | 4–0 | Washington State | 4 |
Rick Neuheisel’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Washington Stateseries | 9 | 9–0 |
| Oregonseries | 9 | 4–5 |
| Oregon Stateseries | 8 | 5–3 |
| Arizona Stateseries | 8 | 4–4 |
| Arizonaseries | 8 | 4–4 |
| Californiaseries | 8 | 4–4 |
| Stanfordseries | 7 | 4–3 |
| Kansas Stateseries | 7 | 3–4 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | UCLA | Graduate assistant | |
| 1988–89 | UCLA | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 1990–93 | UCLA | Wide receivers coach | |
| 1994 | Colorado | Quarterbacks coach and receivers coach | |
| 1995–98 | Colorado | Head coach | |
| 1999–2002 | Washington | Head coach | |
| 2005–06 | Baltimore Ravens NFL | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2007 | Baltimore Ravens NFL | Offensive coordinator | |
| 2008–11 | UCLA | Head coach | |
| 2019 | Arizona Hotshots AAF | Head coach | |
| 2026–present | Dallas Renegades UFL | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Terry DonahueUCLA
- Bill McCartneyColorado
- Brian BillickBaltimore Ravens
Assistants who became head coaches
- Bobby HauckUNLV, Montana
- Brian CabralColorado
- Fred von AppenHawai’i
- Jon EmbreeColorado
- Karl DorrellUCLA, Colorado
- Troy TaylorStanford, Sacramento State
- Tom CableIdaho, Oakland Raiders
- Brent BrennanSan José State, Arizona
- Keith GilbertsonCalifornia, Washington, Idaho
- Pete KaligisWashington State
- Steve AxmanNorthern Arizona
- Tom WilliamsYale
- and 6 more
Worked under (3)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terry Donahue | UCLA | 1986–93 | 1986: graduate assistant; 1988–89: quarterbacks coach; 1990–93: wide receivers coach | |
| Bill McCartney | Colorado | 1994 | Quarterbacks coach and receivers coach | |
| Brian Billick | Baltimore Ravens NFL | 2005–07 | 2005–06: quarterbacks coach; 2007: offensive coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (18)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Hauck | Colorado, 1995–98: safeties, outside linebackers and special teams coach; Washington, 1999–2002: defensive backs and special teams coach | UNLV, Montana | |
| Brian Cabral | Colorado, 1995–98: inside linebackers coach | Colorado | |
| Fred von Appen | Colorado, 1995: defensive line coach | Hawai’i | |
| Jon Embree | Colorado, 1995–98: defensive ends coach | Colorado | |
| Karl Dorrell | Colorado, 1995–98: offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach; Washington, 1999: offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | UCLA, Colorado | |
| Troy Taylor | Colorado, 1995: graduate assistant | Stanford, Sacramento State | |
| Tom Cable | Colorado, 1998: offensive line coach | Idaho, Oakland Raiders | |
| Brent Brennan | Washington, 1999: graduate assistant and tight ends coach | San José State, Arizona | |
| Keith Gilbertson | Washington, 1999: assistant head coach; 2000–02: assistant head coach and offensive coordinator | California, Washington, Idaho | |
| Pete Kaligis | Washington, 1999–2001: assistant strength and conditioning coach; 2002: strength and conditioning coach | Washington State | |
| Steve Axman | Washington, 1999–2000: quarterbacks coach; 2001–02: assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach; Arizona Hotshots, 2019: quarterbacks coach | Northern Arizona | |
| Tom Williams | Washington, 1999–2001: linebackers coach | Yale | |
| DeWayne Walker | UCLA, 2008: defensive coordinator | UCLA, New Mexico State | |
| Norm Chow | UCLA, 2008–10: offensive coordinator | Hawai’i | |
| Clark Lea | UCLA, 2009: graduate assistant; 2010–11: linebackers coach | Vanderbilt | |
| Darrin Chiaverini | UCLA, 2009: special teams assistant | Chaffey, Northeastern State | |
| Marques Tuiasosopo | UCLA, 2011: graduate assistant | Washington | |
| Chris Scelfo | Arizona Hotshots, 2019: offensive line coach | Tulane |
Other assistants under him (16)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| A. J. Christoff | Colorado, 1995–98: defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| Chuck Heater | Colorado, 1995–97: tight ends coach; 1998: tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator; Washington, 1999–2001: cornerbacks coach and recruiting coordinator; 2002: running backs coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| Kennedy Polamalu | Colorado, 1997–98: running backs coach | |
| Ikaika Malloe | Washington, 1999–2001: graduate assistant | |
| Randy Hart | Washington, 1999–2002: defensive line coach | |
| Tim Hundley | Washington, 1999–2002: defensive coordinator | |
| Chuck Bullough | UCLA, 2008: linebackers coach; 2009–10: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| David Raih | UCLA, 2008–09: intern | |
| Tim Hauck | UCLA, 2008: safeties coach | |
| Daronte Jones | UCLA, 2010: cornerbacks coach | |
| Joe Tresey | UCLA, 2011: defensive coordinator | |
| Mike Johnson | UCLA, 2011: offensive coordinator | |
| Nick Aliotti | Arizona Hotshots, 2019: defensive coordinator | |
| Brian Baker | Dallas Renegades, 2026: defensive line coach | |
| Kevin Wolthausen | Dallas Renegades, 2026: linebackers coach | |
| Noel Mazzone | Dallas Renegades, 2026: offensive coordinator |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | UCLA | head coachbonuses up to $500,000 | $1,285,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2010 | UCLA | head coachbonuses up to $500,000 | $1,276,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2009 | UCLA | head coachbonuses up to $500,000 | $1,276,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2008 | UCLA | head coach | $1,250,000 USA Today via Leeds |
The same USA Today database for 2006–16, from Michael Leeds’ replication data on Harvard Dataverse (CC0): the season’s contract pay.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Neuheisel’s teams went for it on 16% of fourth downs and on 29% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 49% of plays and took 26.0 seconds a play, 2008–2011.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 12 g | 11 of 108 10% | 14% | 58% | 26.2 | −0.23 | |
| 2009 13 g | 15 of 113 13% | 25% | 54% | 26.3 | −0.15 | |
| 2010 12 g | 16 of 95 17% | 34% | 43% | 24.6 | −0.15 | |
| 2011 14 g | 24 of 101 24% | 46% | 42% | 26.7 | −0.03 | |
| All 51 g | 66 of 417 16% | 29% | 49% | 26.0 | −0.14 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.