to be the Bruins' offensive coordinator over Neuheisel. In 1994, Neuheisel moved to Colorado as an assistant to Bill McCartney. Neuheisel and Donahue had a chance meeting at the airport in Dallas in 1999, and resolved their differences. Colorado (1995–1998) McCartney retired following the 1994 season and Neuheisel, age 34, was named the head coach. He stayed for four seasons (1995–1998) in Boulder as the Buffs coach. His best season was his first, in which the Buffs tied for second in the final season of Big Eight Conference play and won the Cotton Bowl. His only losing season at Colorado was 1997; the Buffs were expected to be national title contenders, but never recovered from a blowout loss to Michigan on national television. After the season, the Buffs were forced to forfeit their five wins due to an ineligible player, though Neuheisel was subsequently ruled to not be affected. Washington (1999–2002) Neuheisel was welcomed into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame before the 1999 Rose Bowl. University of Washington athletic director Barbara Hedges took the opportunity to meet with him. She fired coach Jim Lambright and named Neuheisel as his replacement. Neuheisel left for Seattle in January 1999 to coach at the University of Washington for four seasons (1999–2002). His starting salary was $1,000,000 annually, at the time one of the five highest in the nation. One of Neuheisel's first acts was to restore the Huskies' traditional gold helmets; they had worn purple helmets for the previous four seasons. In the 2000 season, the Huskies won the Pac-10 title and the Rose Bowl over Big Ten champ Purdue, led by quarterback Drew Brees. Their only loss was to the rival Oregon Ducks. Washington, led by senior quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo, the Rose Bowl MVP, finished the season at 11–1 and was ranked third in the final national polls. Neuheisel became the first (and as of 2016 only) former Rose Bowl MVP to coach a winning Rose Bowl team. In 2008, The Seattle Times ran a series of articles which accused Neuheisel and athletic director Barbara Hedges of overlooking numerous discipline problems—including outright criminal behavior—during the 2000 season. During that year, UW safety Curtis Williams was allowed to play despite being issued an outstanding arrest warrant for assaulting his wife, Michelle. Linebacker Jeremiah Pharms was under investigation for robbing and shooting a drug dealer after police found his fingerprints at the scene,