Smartest College Football Coach Firings of the Past 10 Years

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Rick Neuheisel – UCLA Bruins, 2011

Record With School: 21-29
Replaced by: Jim L. Mora

The good folks at UCLA were tired of USC getting all the good press (and all the good players) and wanted to raise their football program up to a level that was commensurate with the rest of the toughening Pac-12.

Exit Karl Dorrell, enter Rick Neuheisel, a former UCLA quarterback and the perfect guy for the job now that Dorrell had cleaned up the off-field mess left by Bob Toledo.

Neuheisel never really got off the ground with the Bruins, posting losing records in three out of his four seasons as head coach, and losing to rival USC for four straight seasons. It was a match seemingly made in heaven that soured right from the start.

He could recruit — stealing some great potential players from USC — but he couldn’t seem to put it together on the field once those players got to UCLA.

Next: Derek Dooley