COLLEGE FOOTBALL Washington to fire Neuheisel as coach; NCAA bets are why

Trouble followed the 42-year-old coach from Boulder to Seattle.
SEATTLE (AP) -- Rick Neuheisel is out as Washington's football coach, less than a week after acknowledging betting on the NCAA basketball tournament.
"This is a sad night for me because I've poured a lot of myself into this job -- and it was a great job," Neuheisel told KING-TV on Wednesday night.
"I am not the guy they're portraying me to be," he said. "I'll find new challenges. I will hopefully scale new ladders."
Athletic department spokesman Jim Daves said a news conference was scheduled for today. He didn't disclose further details.
The NCAA prohibits coaches from gambling on college sports.
Neuheisel admitted last week he had placed bets with neighbors on the NCAA tournament over the past two years, an action that NCAA president Myles Brand called "totally unacceptable behavior."
His defense
Neuheisel insisted he didn't believe he had broken NCAA rules because it was an informal off-campus pool. He also claimed an e-mail from the athletic department's compliance director gave him permission to participate.
It was apparently the final episode for the 42-year-old Neuheisel after a series of brushes with trouble during his 41/2-year tenure at Washington and, before that, for four seasons at Colorado.
Last fall, the NCAA banned Neuheisel from off-campus recruiting through this spring as punishment for 50 secondary rules violations at Colorado. The American Football Coaches Association later censured him for showing a lack of remorse.
Denial about 49ers
Earlier this year, Neuheisel secretly interviewed with the San Francisco 49ers for their then-vacant coaching job but released a statement denying he had done so. He later admitted he had lied.
Neuheisel's charismatic, easygoing manner has been well documented, too.
He was known for taking Colorado players on rafting trips and sometimes played a guitar in the locker room. He had pop music pumped through the Husky Stadium loudspeakers during practice.
Neuheisel was hailed for his 11-1 record and Rose Bowl title after the 2000 season and, the following season, his sensitive handling of the paralysis and subsequent death of safety Curtis Williams.
Asked whether it had hit him that he's no longer coach of the Huskies, he said: "I didn't want to think about it during the fight during this last week because I thought it would derail my efforts.
"So I'm probably not dealing with reality, but the facts are the facts, and we deal with them."
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which reported late Tuesday that Neuheisel would be fired, also said that offensive coordinator Keith Gilbertson will become interim coach.