Arresting developments from Neuheisel's past

Rick Neuheisel focused his sharp, gray eyes on me. This was not the smiling Rick we've seen recently. This was the serious Rick, and he needed to be.

"It is what it is," he said. "I am not going to run and hide."

It was Tuesday afternoon and I had come to his office with questions about a recent newspaper series that reported several players on his 2000 Washington football team had blazed a trail of unchecked lawlessness.

Neuheisel was, of course, well aware of the series, published last month by the Seattle Times. While the series said at least 14 athletes from that team would eventually be accused of serious crimes, it focused on three of the most valuable -- defensive players Curtis Williams and Jeremiah Pharms, and offensive star Jerramy Stevens.

I read aloud a section of the series listing accusations against his players, including allegations of sexual assault, animal cruelty, driving drunk and domestic violence.

He grimaced.

All of this was mighty uncomfortable for Neuheisel. In December, he was named coach at UCLA. He's a hometown hero. For many, he has returned as a savior for a struggling team.

But there's no escaping his past. Neuheisel left his last two head coaching jobs -- at Colorado and Washington -- amid a storm of allegations and findings that he'd played it loose with the rules that govern college sports.

Now he sat before me in his office, intent, focused, ready to talk -- and eager to show that he's learned something.

For starters, though, he reminded me that some of the Seattle Times' series focused on problems that occurred before he was at Washington. This is true, particularly so of Williams, who ended up paralyzed after a hit in a game during that 2000 season.

Neuheisel also said that when he was coach and the players in question were under investigation, he was largely kept out of the loop by prosecutors and police. That's a fair point, too. Good prosecutors and police don't have loose lips. Much of the detail in the investigative series involves facts that Neuheisel wouldn't have known about unless he was James Bond.

Still, the investigation showed there were ways Neuheisel could have done a much better job of disciplining his players -- showing them there's a price to be paid for acting like entitled prima donnas.

By failing to act decisively with one of them, Neuheisel may well have sent a troubling message to some on his team: play for the Huskies and you are above the law.