Just caught up with Rick Neuheisel and chatted with him regarding the rumors that have been swirling around his program and staff. Here’s what he had to say regarding Wednesday’s rumors:
DB: What can you tell me about Mike Johnson?
RN: Mike Johnson and I are old buddies. We worked together at the Baltimore Ravens and I have talked to him about our wide receivers job.
DB: But no offer has been made to bring Johnson on as offensive coordinator?
RN: Well, I I haven’t ruled that out but Mike and I haven’t made any deals about that.
DB: Is Norm still on campus and in meetings?
RN: Norm is still a member of the UCLA football staff and will be involved in helping us have a great recruiting weekend.
DB: How’s the defensive coordinator search going?
RN: It’s still going. One of the things you have to do in searching for coaches is you have to be respectful because many of them have positions and at this time in recruiting you don’t want to have rumor innuendo create doubt in a recruit’s mind, so we’ve got to protect their confidentiality and that’s what I’ve been doing. There were a couple of guys that were being heavily considered that because of the circumstances, are not longer available but it’s been a good process. One thing I’d like for Bruin fans to realize is that it can’t be hurried. Because if you hurry, you’re going to miss out on opportunities for all of the potential candidates. Obviously, this is an important choice and one that we need to be right on.
DB: Has Norm been contacted by other schools?
RN: Not to my knowledge. All I know is he’s on our staff and we’ve got a big weekend for recruiting this weekend.
DB: Has the idea been brought up that Norm could share the offensive coordinator duties or he might take on a different tole than he had last season?
RN: I have made it clear that coaching responsibilities have yet to be determined. I’m looking at lots of different ways to divy up the responsibilities and I just want to make sure that whichever way we choose is the best for our team.
DB: When are you looking to make your decision?
RN: I’d like to make it as soon as I can but I can’t hurry along the machinations that go on in the coaching business. And as I wait for potential candidates to become available.
If you gave me a magic wand and said I could tap guys on the shoulder and they’d be here, this would have been done.