2003 - Farewell from Neuheiselville

Rick played to win ... you can bet on it.

2003 Farewell from Neuheiseville!

From 1999 until 2003 Rick Neuheisel was the head coach of the Washington Huskies. In the 2000 season, the Huskies won the Pac-10 title and the 2001 Rose Bowl over the Big Ten champ Purdue Boilermakers. Washington’s quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo, won the Rose Bowl MVP, just like his coach had done many years before. They finish the season 11-1 and were ranked third in the final national polls. Coach Neuheisel became the first and only former Rose Bowl MVP to coach a Rose Bowl winning team.

Coach Neuheisel was then fired in the summer of 2003 from the University of Washington in relation to his participation in a neighborhood pool for the 2003 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and lies he told about his actions. He first denied the accusation to investigators before admitting to it after consultation with school officials. The gambling case became a local sensation when it was revealed that he had received an internal UW memo which authorized gambling in off-campus tournament basketball pools.