As intense as the UCLA-Washington rivalry is on the football
field, it might not even compare to the verbal volleys off the
gridiron last February.
Following one of the most bitter and competitive recruiting wars
in recent memory, Washington head coach Rick Neuheisel told the
Seattle Times, “Bob Toledo tells (Washington recruit) Clayton
Walker, “˜You don’t think that if I’m (Toledo)
gone, that Neuheisel is not going to be the next head coach at
UCLA?’ I mean, Bob Toledo is basically telling him he’s
going to get fired.”
To which Bob Toledo responded shortly, “We never had a
problem in the conference until he started talking about negative
recruiting. Now I’m going to start talking. If you live in a
glass house, you shouldn’t throw rocks, you know what I
mean?”
The Los Angeles Daily News reported that Toledo accused
Neuheisel of telling safeties Jarrad Page and Eric McNeal that
coaches lived too far away from campus and that a position change
to linebacker was forthcoming for McNeal.
Welcome to the soap opera that is Pac-10 football. Behind the
scenes of Saturday’s Bruins-Huskies matchup lurks a
conference recruiting war so stiff that Pac-10 coaches look for any
edge, even, apparently, if it means talking behind another
coach’s back.
Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti, who was also accused by
Neuheisel of recruiting infractions, told ESPN that Neuheisel
should have called the coaches involved instead of going public to
the newspapers.
The Pac-10 later ruled that it found no blatant evidence of
wrongdoing, and instead, UCLA, Washington and Oregon were all
reprimands; essentially, a slap on the wrist.
However, in the spring following the accusations, the coaches
got together to discuss proper recruiting etiquette, and
immediately afterward, the issue seemed to be resolved. If
anything, both sides seem to regret that their verbal scuffle had
been public.
“It’s whining,” Neuheisel told the Seattle
Times over the summer. “It’s not becoming and I
won’t do it again.”
There are no real formal rules regarding high school recruits,
especially those who have only orally committed. According to NCAA
guidelines, no commitment is binding until a signature is placed on
a formal letter of intent. Until then, it is open season on the
high school recruits.
Even more tricky, however, may be the coaches’ code of
ethics ““ or lack thereof. While there are NCAA regulations
that restrict the number of visits and the amount of time a coach
can spend with a player, there are no such rules on what a coach
can say or do.
Ultimately, the length to which a coach will go to gain a
commitment is up to his own moral standards. Arizona head coach
John Mackovic even went as far as describing Pac-10 coaches as
“Machiavellian.”
Instead of going to the Pac-10 or speaking directly with the
coaches, Neuheisel went straight to the press with his grievances
last year. It was a decision he ultimately regrets, as does Toledo
who pointed out last February, “We should have kept it
in-house.”
Both coaches played golf together over the summer, so any
animosity or ill will seems to have died down.
“It’s an unfortunate thing, and I’ve taken the
responsibility and apologized,” Neuheisel said.
“That’s water under the bridge.”
“Our relationship is good,” Toledo added.
“Sometimes, we’ve had rocky moments, but that’s
water under the bridge.”
Both coaches are obviously looking to put the verbal sparring
behind them, but another recruiting battle looms next February and
promises to be just as fierce and competitive as past years.
It remains to be seen whether the water under this bridge is a
calm stream or a raging river.