Underdog Done Good

Raih had a very promising sales career, winning national sales awards and being paid handsomely. He was living a few minutes from the beach in southern California and had a sales territory that included Cedars-Sinai Hospital, where celebrity sightings are common. How could it get any better for a young man at the beginning of his career?

Well, a burning passion was smoldering inside him. He was missing what he loved: the game of football. Raih was considering leaving his lucrative career behind to coach football. He started calling his former coaches in Iowa, asking for advice.

Making His Move

While home for Christmas last year, he told his family that his New Year’s resolution was to get back into coaching. He confessed how much he missed football. Even after graduation, he hung out at the University of Iowa football offices, watching practices and recruiting tapes, talking about football with everyone. He told his family he regretted ever leaving the coaching staff, and knew that he had to get back into football.

It wouldn’t be long before he got a chance to act on his dream—December 29, 2007, in fact. Back in Los Angeles, Raih was watching ESPN when an announcement was made that the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Bruins were hiring Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Rick Neuheisel as their head coach. Suddenly, Raih’s phone was ringing. Both his best friend and his dad had seen the announcement and thought Raih’s coaching dream was about to be realized only a few blocks away from his L.A. home, where the Bruins’ new head coach would soon be assembling his staff.

Because the Baltimore Ravens finished their season on December 30, Raih guessed that Neuheisel would be at UCLA on New Year’s Eve. He put together his résumé and letters of recommendation from the Iowa coaching staff, and went to the campus that afternoon with nothing but his résumé, a dream, and determination.

Raih didn’t know his way around the campus or even what he’d say if he ran into Neuheisel. He and a friend walked around for a while looking for the new coach. Then they saw some reporters coming out of a building and knew the coach had to be nearby.

Raih hung around the building, eventually meeting Neuheisel and telling him how he had played for Kirk Ferentz in Iowa, and that now he wanted to coach for UCLA. Raih gave Neuheisel his résumé and said he’d follow up with a call.