Neuheisel, 46, was able to deal effectively with his past in interviews with Guerrero and UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, allowing them to satisfy a number of prominent alumni and former Bruins players who had been pushing hard for Neuheisel.
Neuheisel has long coveted the UCLA job. He turned it down after the 1995 season, having been at Colorado for only one season. When the Bruins' job opened again after the 2002 season, Neuheisel's coaching history was tainted with issues that he had to address during the interview process the last few weeks.
"I wanted to set the record straight and make sure they understood what had taken place," said Neuheisel, who has spent the last three seasons as an assistant with the Ravens.
"I take full responsibility and, while I'm not proud of it, I've certainly learned from that and will make sure it wouldn't happen again."
Said Guerrero: "I looked Rick in the eye, he looked me in the eye, and we conveyed very clearly what our thoughts were. This happened five to 10 years ago and he said he is much wiser and more mature."
Guerrero also said that conversations with officials from the NCAA, the Pacific 10 Conference, Washington and Colorado gave him "comfort" to move forward.
"I hope that he has learned from the difficulties he has encountered previously," Pac-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen said. "I'm convinced he has and I'm convinced he has convinced Dan Guerrero and Chancellor Block of that.
"He comes in like any other coach coming into the conference. He certainly paid a price for his past violations. I would like to think he would recognize UCLA has given him a great opportunity, a chance to get back into college football, and that he would treat it like the very, very precious opportunity that it is."
Neuheisel's past was the only thing that slowed his hire, sources familiar with the search said. He fit the profile set down by Guerrero in every other way.
Neuheisel was the quarterback for the Bruins in a 45-9 victory over Illinois in the 1984 Rose Bowl and was also an UCLA assistant from 1986 to '93. That makes him well-versed in the difficulties of coaching at UCLA, where academic requirements are stricter than at other Pac-10 schools and assistant coach pay has not kept up with the cost of living in Southern California.
His teams have always been highly efficient offensively, the area where the Bruins need to improve considerably.
