<img src="http://128.97.251.217:8080/img/photos/2007/07/22/howard_t820.jpg" /><br><br>
E-mail Howard at ahoward@media.ucla.edu
In his postgame press conference, coach Rick Neuheisel talked about how grateful he was to be back at his alma mater.

"I'm unbelievably grateful on a lot of fronts. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be here. A lot of people had to stick their necks out to get me this chance, namely (Athletic Director) Dan Guerrero, Chancellor (Gene) Block…to take the slings and arrows that go with hiring somebody who’s got some varnishes. I’m eternally grateful for that."

For those who don't know, Neuheisel was the head coach at Colorado from 1995-1998. After he left, the program was put on two years probation for 53 recruiting violations, 51 of which were determined to happen under his tenure.

In 2003, Neuheisel was fired from his head coaching position at the University of Washington for his alleged participation in a NCAA College Basketball betting pool. Later, Neuheisel collected a $4.5 million settlement and the NCAA and the University of Washington dropped the case.

Neuheisel also talked about the journey he has taken back to the college sidelines.

"It was what it was. There were some mistakes made; I made them, I take responsibility. The other parties in the lawsuit made some mistakes. And unfortunately, a lot of good people got hurt by it. All you do when you are dealing with adversity is just kind of figure out what course of action you’re going to go in and stay the course, and you try and get back to being positive because life’s too short. You’re better than all of that. It was a hard five years being away from college football. But on the plus side, I got closer to my boys, I got to do carpool for my wife, I got to coach high school football which was a thrill, got to coach in the NFL, something maybe I would have never done. Those are all experiences I’m going to treasure. But being back on that sideline tonight reminded me that this is what I do, and again I’m very thankful for the people who gave me a chance to do it."

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