# Rick Neuheisel on UW Quarterback Situation, Decision Timing, UCLA, Pick

An episode of [Softy & Dick Interviews](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1245866571), 23 Oct 2026, 14 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/98a2599f-cd9b-4f2a-9be4-b22c00e585f2/907d6469-cef5-4bda-9f13-b2f100f49399/69f5749a-d567-4878-bac3-b4eb018253be/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=26b16ce4-8fab-44ea-88d4-b2f100f493bc

Former Huskies coach turned CBS analyst Rick Neuheisel joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain to talk about the UW quarterback situation currently, Elijah Brown’s possibility of taking over, the timing of a starter decision, UCLA’s great year so far and potential the rest of the way, Michigan’s quarterback situation, what Texas’ problem is, and his pick. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Your home for college football Saturdays is live with CBS
[0:04] Speaker 1: Sports Analyst Rick Neuheisel, powered by Taco Time.
[0:08] Speaker 2: Hungry?
[0:09] Speaker 1: At Taco Time, it's easy to create exactly what you're craving,
[0:12] Speaker 1: and we wouldn't have it any other way. How do
[0:14] Speaker 1: you Taco Time? Customize your meal and order ahead on
[0:17] Speaker 1: the Taco Time Northwest app. Taco Time, time for something different.
[0:22] Speaker 1: Now with Rick Neuheisel, here's Softie and Dick.
[0:26] Speaker 2: All right, we're back at the 520 Bar and Grill
[0:28] Speaker 2: in Bellevue.
[0:29] Speaker 3: Big thanks to our friends over at Taco Time for
[0:31] Speaker 3: sponsoring this little shindig every single Thursday at 320.
[0:34] Speaker 2: Did I say single?
[0:36] Speaker 3: Every single Thursday on the radio show with our friend
[0:39] Speaker 3: Rick Neuheisel, who joins us right now on the air.
[0:42] Speaker 2: Apparently, I'm developing a lisp live on radio. Coach, how
[0:45] Speaker 2: are you?
[0:46] Speaker 4: I am well, Softy, and I think it's curable. Don't worry.
[0:50] Speaker 4: I think we can fix that.
[0:51] Speaker 2: I don't know. Petros has one, and he just sucks
[0:53] Speaker 2: it up.
[0:54] Speaker 3: He hides it while he's on the air, so he's
[0:57] Speaker 3: at it forever.
[0:58] Speaker 4: And has lived to tell about it. Lou Holst did
[1:01] Speaker 4: just fine.
[1:04] Speaker 2: Exactly. I love it.
[1:05] Speaker 3: Well, there's a lot going on, man. I mean, UW
[1:08] Speaker 3: goes to Purdue. They get a nice win. over a
[1:11] Speaker 3: not very good football team, but they look functional offensively.
[1:14] Speaker 3: And now the question everybody's asking, who should start at
[1:18] Speaker 3: quarterback after the bye against Nebraska?
[1:21] Speaker 2: You put yourself in Jed Fish's shoes. What are you doing?
[1:25] Speaker 3: You going to roll with Elijah Brown, who threw for
[1:29] Speaker 3: three touchdowns, but also threw three picks, but they scored 38?
[1:32] Speaker 3: Or are you going back to DeMond if he's healthy again?
[1:37] Speaker 4: You know, I can't go away from a hot hand.
[1:40] Speaker 4: And I know the three interceptions are troubling, but at
[1:43] Speaker 4: least one of those in my mind watching on television
[1:46] Speaker 4: was a receiver and the quarterback not on the same page.
[1:51] Speaker 4: The ball gets out of his hands and it takes
[1:53] Speaker 4: so much pressure off that offensive line. And the fact
[1:57] Speaker 4: that he is able to hit passes in 2.8 seconds
[2:02] Speaker 4: of protection time, forces defenses into cover two, and then
[2:07] Speaker 4: all of a sudden now you can run the ball.
[2:09] Speaker 4: And Trey Cooley goes eight carries for 113 yards. It
[2:13] Speaker 4: just opens up the offense. And for whatever reason that
[2:17] Speaker 4: DeMond isn't clicking in terms of getting it out of
[2:19] Speaker 4: his hand, whether it be sight lines because of his
[2:21] Speaker 4: height or looking for big plays and just being a
[2:25] Speaker 4: little bit behind with his feet, You can't go away
[2:28] Speaker 4: from a hot hand. I'd say the same thing to
[2:31] Speaker 4: Kyle Whittingham with Tommy Carr. I'd say the same thing
[2:34] Speaker 4: to any guy that has a quarterback comes off the
[2:37] Speaker 4: bench and gets it going. The team has competition at
[2:40] Speaker 4: every other position. You can't just say that you're not
[2:44] Speaker 4: going to have competition at quarterback. And Elijah has earned
[2:47] Speaker 4: the job.
[2:49] Speaker 5: And what might surprise a lot of people is Elijah
[2:51] Speaker 5: was basically as highly recruited as DeMond Williams was.
[2:56] Speaker 2: Higher.
[2:56] Speaker 5: Higher than DeMond Williams was. I know it's still a
[2:59] Speaker 5: limited sample size. He's only thrown 69 passes this year,
[3:02] Speaker 5: but he's completing 74% of those passes with seven touchdowns.
[3:06] Speaker 2: What have you noticed?
[3:07] Speaker 5: Does this look like a guy that can lead a
[3:10] Speaker 5: Big Ten football program over the next couple years, or
[3:14] Speaker 5: does he just look like a really high-end backup to you?
[3:17] Speaker 4: To me, what he has is the ability to process
[3:21] Speaker 4: the information and to get the ball out of his
[3:24] Speaker 4: hands accurately. And all of a sudden, everybody's kind of involved.
[3:30] Speaker 4: The whole offense has got some rhythm. And now the
[3:34] Speaker 4: offensive line doesn't have to protect as long. They're getting
[3:37] Speaker 4: more favorable down in distances so they can come off
[3:40] Speaker 4: the ball. You're going to get more in the way
[3:42] Speaker 4: of play action because you're not going to be facing
[3:44] Speaker 4: the third down issues that you've been plaguing you this year.
[3:48] Speaker 4: I mean, one thing leads to another. And here's what
[3:51] Speaker 4: I say to every coach. Trust your eyes. You're watching
[3:54] Speaker 4: the games. Who's playing better?
[3:56] Speaker 2: It's not close.
[3:59] Speaker 4: I know you have great memories of DeMond playing wonderfully
[4:03] Speaker 4: and extending plays with his legs, but he had Jonah
[4:06] Speaker 4: Coleman where you had to come in and play him.
[4:08] Speaker 4: So now he had ways to take advantage of that.
[4:11] Speaker 4: This is not close. Elijah Brown is playing better.
[4:15] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[4:15] Speaker 3: Would the $ 4 million that you're paying DeMond Williams even
[4:19] Speaker 3: factor into your decision at this point in the year?
[4:23] Speaker 4: Of course it has to because you're going to go
[4:26] Speaker 4: back to the boosters that you asked for money, and
[4:28] Speaker 4: you're going to have to have an answer for this question,
[4:32] Speaker 4: which is why Jed is so in favor of 24
[4:34] Speaker 4: teams in a college football playoff because this is what
[4:38] Speaker 4: you have to say. If we can have the money,
[4:41] Speaker 4: we can go out and build a team that can
[4:44] Speaker 4: get to the 24. Now we've got access and anything
[4:47] Speaker 4: can happen there. Listen. I understand why you invested in DeMond.
[4:52] Speaker 4: I understand why you thought this was a prudent investment.
[4:56] Speaker 4: But just because somebody else is beating him out, that's
[4:59] Speaker 4: still the way football works. And for those NFL teams
[5:03] Speaker 4: that just go into draft choices and look at they
[5:07] Speaker 4: just keep recycling draft choices and it's bust after bust.
[5:11] Speaker 4: You have to play with a hot hand.
[5:13] Speaker 3: Rick, would you name a starter now, or would you
[5:16] Speaker 3: take this all the way up until game time with
[5:18] Speaker 3: Nebraska and make them prepare for both guys?
[5:24] Speaker 4: I understand in a bye week where you're going to
[5:25] Speaker 4: have competition. I understand that, but I wouldn't wait very
[5:29] Speaker 4: long in that game week because Elijah Brown has earned
[5:32] Speaker 4: it and deserves it. And DeMond Williams needs to realize
[5:36] Speaker 4: that when he said when he about faced that he
[5:39] Speaker 4: wanted to come back to Washington, he's part of a
[5:42] Speaker 4: team and the team has competition. And it'll do him
[5:46] Speaker 4: good to keep studying Elijah Brown and why he's being
[5:49] Speaker 4: successful so that when he does get the chance, you
[5:51] Speaker 4: never know when Elijah is going to go down. But
[5:53] Speaker 4: when he gets to go back in there, he's not
[5:56] Speaker 4: feeling sorry for himself. He's ready to go.
[5:59] Speaker 5: Well, you mentioned the 2014 playoff and Jed having to
[6:02] Speaker 5: navigate that. How does this team compete without big-time support
[6:07] Speaker 5: from the donors? What is the workaround? What are the
[6:09] Speaker 5: keys that he has to make sure that he hits on?
[6:14] Speaker 4: Well, I mean, it's where you put your resources, right?
[6:19] Speaker 4: The alpha positions, the rush ends of the world, the
[6:22] Speaker 4: lockdown corners of the world, the alpha receivers of the world,
[6:27] Speaker 4: obviously the quarterback, a great running back. And I know
[6:30] Speaker 4: you've been bit by this. the injury bug at that
[6:32] Speaker 4: position this year, that's where you're going to put your resources.
[6:37] Speaker 4: But as you were watching now in college football, that
[6:41] Speaker 4: backup quarterback becomes gold. So don't lose sight of that.
[6:46] Speaker 4: And thank goodness for Elijah Brown being Johnny on the spot,
[6:50] Speaker 4: ready to take over.
[6:51] Speaker 2: Well, no doubt. Rick Neuheisel's with us.
[6:53] Speaker 3: And, Rick, you mentioned the Tommy Carr situation at Michigan.
[6:56] Speaker 3: So he's got two grandfathers. that are in the College
[7:00] Speaker 3: Football Hall of Fame. One is Lloyd Carr, obviously, who
[7:03] Speaker 3: was the old head coach at Michigan. But they would
[7:06] Speaker 3: have to bench the $ 12 million guy in Bryce Underwood, right,
[7:10] Speaker 3: to play this kid. Do you think that that's about
[7:12] Speaker 3: to happen out there?
[7:15] Speaker 4: I think 100%. I think it has to happen. You
[7:19] Speaker 4: would lose your team and you'd lose the locker room
[7:22] Speaker 4: if you don't recognize what everybody else recognized. Just like
[7:25] Speaker 4: you saw with Elijah when he went in the game,
[7:28] Speaker 4: there was rhythm in the offense. I remember literally being
[7:32] Speaker 4: in a staff room while I was still coaching at
[7:34] Speaker 4: Colorado before I got to Washington, and we had recruited
[7:37] Speaker 4: this kid by the name of Mike Machete. And he's
[7:40] Speaker 4: a quarterback kind of athlete. He'd gone and played with
[7:43] Speaker 4: the Oakland A's, and he was coming back after junior college.
[7:46] Speaker 4: And he went into scrimmage, and it literally clicked like
[7:50] Speaker 4: he'd been there his whole life. And we had this
[7:52] Speaker 4: other kid that was trying to win the quarterback job.
[7:55] Speaker 4: I went around the room, who do you think is
[7:57] Speaker 4: the best quarterback? And everybody in the room said, well,
[7:59] Speaker 4: we've got to let Jeremy play, the guy who's been
[8:02] Speaker 4: on the team forever. But, hey, Mike will come in
[8:06] Speaker 4: there and save the day. I go, do you realize
[8:08] Speaker 4: you're all predicting that we're going to have to save
[8:09] Speaker 4: the day? We're starting Mike Michette. He's got to be
[8:13] Speaker 4: the guy. And he was brilliant. We started the season
[8:16] Speaker 4: 5-0 before he got nicked up. I mean, you cannot
[8:20] Speaker 4: ignore what your eyes are telling you. And what our
[8:23] Speaker 4: eyes are telling us is Michigan's better with Tommy Carr
[8:26] Speaker 4: and Washington, at least for now, is better with Elijah Brown.
[8:31] Speaker 5: Rick, it's possible your alma mater plays just one or
[8:35] Speaker 5: even zero games against ranked teams this year, but they're undefeated.
[8:40] Speaker 2: So are the Bruins for real?
[8:43] Speaker 4: Doesn't that remind you of Indiana two years ago?
[8:47] Speaker 2: Yes, it does. Yes, it does.
[8:49] Speaker 5: So how real are the Bruins, and how big a
[8:51] Speaker 5: difference is there going from Nico to the new kid, Diefenbach,
[8:55] Speaker 5: a quarterback?
[8:57] Speaker 4: Well, let me say this. Bob Chesney deserves a whale
[9:00] Speaker 4: amount of credit. I mean, UCLA has been struggling of late.
[9:07] Speaker 4: I was part of that struggle. I get it. And
[9:09] Speaker 4: for him to go in there and get some resources
[9:12] Speaker 4: and bring a bunch of James Madison guys, the running
[9:16] Speaker 4: back Wayne Knights having a banner year, a number of
[9:19] Speaker 4: defensive guys are having banner years. I mean, that's a
[9:21] Speaker 4: hell of a job of coaching. So take nothing away
[9:24] Speaker 4: from them. The schedule is certainly a benefit, and he's
[9:27] Speaker 4: also had some teams that have been on the schedule
[9:30] Speaker 4: that haven't come in full speed. Dante Moore didn't play
[9:33] Speaker 4: when they played Oregon. But that doesn't matter. What matters
[9:36] Speaker 4: is you just keep getting better. Ty Diffenbach is another transfer.
[9:40] Speaker 4: He was at Cal Poly last year. and was a
[9:44] Speaker 4: good player, not a great player, but in this system
[9:47] Speaker 4: where they have multiple offensive linemen and they roll a lineman,
[9:50] Speaker 4: they're going to try to lean on run offense and
[9:54] Speaker 4: play great defense. And they have a chance again against
[9:57] Speaker 4: Michigan State to get that done. Yeah, Rick Neuheisel.
[10:00] Speaker 3: Courtesy of Taco Time, is with us on the air.
[10:02] Speaker 3: We'll get your pick of the week coming up in
[10:03] Speaker 3: a matter of minutes, but everyone's looking for the next Cignetti.
[10:06] Speaker 3: They're looking for the next Chesney, looking for the next
[10:09] Speaker 3: Kalen DeBoer. There's a couple guys out there, man. I mean,
[10:13] Speaker 3: Jason Eck, New Mexico State, right? Dicker at Wake Forest.
[10:17] Speaker 3: And then our old guy, Jamarcus Shepard over at Oregon State.
[10:20] Speaker 3: I mean, who's the next one to pop?
[10:23] Speaker 2: Who's the guy?
[10:24] Speaker 3: And do you think, by the way, a guy like
[10:25] Speaker 3: Jamarcus would leave after a year in Corvallis?
[10:30] Speaker 4: Listen, he is doing a bang-up job there and deserves
[10:34] Speaker 4: all the accolades. And Maryland's open. You think Maryland would
[10:37] Speaker 4: like him to come and bring Jesse Legree with him,
[10:40] Speaker 4: who happens to be from Baltimore? That little freshman sensation?
[10:44] Speaker 4: I mean, goodness gracious. Part of the calculation, I know
[10:47] Speaker 4: this has never been the case, but part of the
[10:49] Speaker 4: calculation as to who's going to take this next job
[10:52] Speaker 4: is who's he going to bring with him. Jake Dickard
[10:55] Speaker 4: at Wake Forest is having a monster year, really a phenomenal,
[10:59] Speaker 4: talented coach in terms of kind of winning attitudes and
[11:03] Speaker 4: stuff like that. You mentioned Jason Eck at New Mexico.
[11:07] Speaker 4: He's having a great year. They got a great game
[11:09] Speaker 4: this week against North Dakota State. all those guys are worthy.
[11:13] Speaker 4: And I'm told Eck has a big personality, and you're
[11:16] Speaker 4: going to need a personality at a place like Maryland
[11:19] Speaker 4: because you've got to win some people over so that
[11:21] Speaker 4: they can open their pocketbooks and help you get into
[11:25] Speaker 4: the competition.
[11:27] Speaker 5: Rick, do we have more of a Sark problem or
[11:29] Speaker 5: an Arch problem in Austin?
[11:32] Speaker 4: Well, because Arch is playing, it's got to be Sark
[11:37] Speaker 4: that unlocks whatever it is that can get the rhythm. Now,
[11:42] Speaker 4: If they go with K.J. Lacey, if they go with
[11:48] Speaker 4: him and all of a sudden it does exactly what
[11:51] Speaker 4: we saw at Elijah Brown and it does exactly what
[11:54] Speaker 4: we saw with Tommy Carr, now Arch has got to sit.
[11:58] Speaker 4: And that's going to be incredibly difficult because of the
[12:02] Speaker 4: profile that he has. So I think Sark's going to
[12:04] Speaker 4: be reluctant to do that. I think Sark is going
[12:07] Speaker 4: to stay with Arch. He's got to find a running game.
[12:11] Speaker 4: And the other thing, you've got to let Arch run.
[12:14] Speaker 4: Last year at this time, during the season, he had
[12:17] Speaker 4: 10 touchdowns running the ball. He has zero this year.
[12:21] Speaker 4: they've got to open up that running game so that
[12:23] Speaker 4: he gets some more easy throws and can start getting
[12:27] Speaker 4: the Cam Coleman's and the Ryan Wingo guys unlocked a
[12:31] Speaker 4: little bit.
[12:31] Speaker 3: All right, let's get to your Taco Time Pick of
[12:33] Speaker 3: the Week. Wasn't here a week ago, but you took
[12:36] Speaker 3: Bama versus Tennessee, and the boys just did not come through.
[12:41] Speaker 4: They let me down. They let me down.
[12:44] Speaker 2: Big time.
[12:44] Speaker 3: I've got you for, let's see, one, two, three, four.
[12:47] Speaker 3: I got you for four and four.
[12:49] Speaker 4: On the air. So we're going to.
[12:51] Speaker 3: Go plus or minus with this pick. Who do you
[12:53] Speaker 3: like for your taco time pick of the week this week?
[12:56] Speaker 4: I'm going to go with Michigan State at the Rose Bowl.
[13:00] Speaker 4: They're getting 14 points. UCLA the last two weeks has
[13:05] Speaker 4: scored 17. I think they're a time of possession game.
[13:09] Speaker 4: I think they're move the ball. Pat Fitzgerald is the
[13:13] Speaker 4: head coach at Michigan State. I think they'll line up.
[13:17] Speaker 4: This is a rematch of the 66 Rose Bowl. I
[13:20] Speaker 4: think they'll line up and play them tough. I think
[13:22] Speaker 4: UCLA wins the game, but give me those 14 points.
[13:25] Speaker 3: Well, I got good news for you, pal. I'm giving
[13:27] Speaker 3: you 15 and a half.
[13:29] Speaker 2: How's that? Well, there you go.
[13:30] Speaker 3: You're getting 15.
[13:33] Speaker 4: Yeah. I like it even better.
[13:36] Speaker 2: No doubt. All right, great stuff, man, and we'll talk
[13:38] Speaker 2: in a week, all right? Thanks, Coach.
[13:41] Speaker 4: I appreciate you, boy. Take care now.

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