Neuheisel lied about interview

Washington football coach Rick Neuheisel last night recanted an earlier assertion that he had not been interviewed for the coaching position with the San Francisco 49ers.

"My knee-jerk reaction was to protect an agreement of confidentiality I had with the 49ers," he said. "But the life of the story that has followed has raised the question about who I am. It has questioned something more important, my credibility, and that isn't worth it.

"I want to correct the situation and apologize for not being more candid. I will work hard at repairing those relationships I have damaged."

Neuheisel admitted that he met with 49ers owner John York, consultant Bill Walsh and General Manager Terry Donahue on Sunday in a hotel near the team's headquarters.

"I cut short my vacation to Sun Valley at their request," Neuheisel said.

What he told reporters on Monday was that he had gone to San Francisco to play golf in the Napa Valley area, where he said he discussed a business deal.

Monday afternoon, Neuheisel released a statement saying, "I have not been contacted by anyone from the 49ers organization about the position" and that "I am not interested in coaching anywhere else."

He made similar statements on KJR Radio Monday, then told The Times that all he had done in the Bay Area was play golf.

"I didn't meet with them," Neuheisel said. "I didn't talk to anybody about that job. I'm not lying about it."

Neuheisel admitted last night that he was caught off guard Sunday in the San Francisco airport by Post-Intelligencer columnist John Levesque, who apparently overheard a telephone conversation Neuheisel was having with his parents about the job interview.

He denied to Levesque that he had any interest in the 49ers job.

"I thought first about what the 49ers had asked of me," he said. "I was trying to protect them, when I should have told the truth."

Neuheisel had played and coached for Donahue at UCLA and was interviewed along with Dennis Erickson, the former Oregon State coach who was named by the 49ers as their new coach.

Neuheisel wouldn't say whether the job was offered to him or if he was interested.

Neuheisel, 42, has been the Washington coach for four years. In that time, he has been mentioned as a candidate for jobs at Notre Dame and UCLA and with the Cleveland Browns and the 49ers.

"I don't want people to think that Washington is a steppingstone for me," he said. "I am very fortunate to be the coach here and am very excited about next season.

"I'm sorry all this happened."